


New Year 2062

by loopunderground, Ravenflock



Series: New Year 2062 [1]
Category: Shadowrun
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 68,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22119592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loopunderground/pseuds/loopunderground, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravenflock/pseuds/Ravenflock
Summary: A new story, set in the Shadowrun world and built using original characters. This was a collaborative work with chapters alternating between authors.Enjoy the story as we enjoyed writing it and feel free to leave (polite) comments and feedback.
Series: New Year 2062 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1592161
Comments: 29
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

It was raining as the crowd gathered in the heart of downtown, but that was no surprise. It was always raining in Seattle and this was a lighter drizzle than many. The neon signs burned down, illuminating the falling drops and casting reflections of the brand names in the puddles on the concrete floor at the edges of the gathering. The names and colours were familiar,“Renraku” in arterial blood red, “Pyramid Operations” in vomit green and of course, “Weapon’s World” proudly blazing in redundantly patriotic red, white and blue. It was as if the streets themselves had been stamped with the corporate logos, as if the companies owned the very ground of the city, which in a way they did.  
The crowd were not even looking towards the open doors of the stores however much the cold of the night may try to push them towards the heated refuge of their aisles. Instead, they gathered before a large stage, speakers pushing out music that they felt with their chests more than heard with their ears. Synths and guitars and drums fought for volume, blending together much in the way the boots of a street gang would as they kicked the drek out of some poor sap on the wrong street corner in the wrong colours at the wrong time. Yet groups of young orks screamed out for more, begging for the onslaught to continue, tusks raised to the sky in celebration of the sensory assault.  
Meanwhile, at the edges and rear of the gathering, people mingled and joined queues at tents set up around the square. The silver reflection of streetlights on chrome glittered from datajacks and cyberlimbs and a riot of colour raced across mohawked heads and streaked manes. The tents distributed shots of liquor to keep the cold away and encourage conversation and elsewhere, in smaller huddles, people exchanged vials of less legal intoxicants. Further back, the squat, square frames of Orks became less common and the taller, lithe elven forms intermixed with humans more regularly. Two giant figures lingered at the very back of the crowd, each over nine feet tall, horns dripping rain water in to their eyes and faces. Trolls, rare as they were, had enough sense to stay back and avoid blocking anyone else’s view of the stage and thus avoided trouble, an innate reaction in most members of that race who chose to partake in such civic events and wished to avoid having to show off their considerable strength.  
The scene was certainly one of celebration, the sounds and sights welcoming and the group seemingly moving peacefully through the rain-slicked night as midnight fast approached. From a distance, it appeared idyllic however, the wind was pushing in from the barrens and the smell of smoke, industrial by-product and death that was swept in on that air was impossible to ignore. Many of the gathered crowd wore breathers as a result, their mouths hidden behind the cloth masks. Others had the surgical scares on their neck from where filters had been implanted to keep such pollution out of their lungs, those rich enough to protect themselves from the cancers that would result anyway. Others just drank more to deaden the senses to the point they could ignore the smell and the thick black glue that collected in the back of their throats, the consequences of such consumption offset to some vague future point. Life was cheap on these streets after all; it seemed stupid to invest much in keeping it.  
For one figure in the crowd the smell of the barrens was far from unwelcome or something to be masked or hidden beneath a mask. To him, it was welcome, a reminder of home. He stood towards the middle of the crowd, standing on the edge of a plinth that held a statue of some human long dead before he was born, enjoying the view as he was raised up above the crowd. His right hand, clad in a black leather glove, held a cup of beer that he had not taken a single sip from since he bought it almost three hours ago. His long synthetic leather coat glistened in the rain and the hood was pulled up over his shaven head, hiding his implants except for the glow from his cyber eyes, two red orbs burning in the deep shadow of his hood. He had already marked the location of two Lone Star vans on the edge of the crowd, teargas launchers aimed at the crowd, ready should they ever be required to protect corporate property. He instinctively had moved away from their forward arcs, his chosen spot as far from their threat as possible while still blending in with the crowd.  
His name wasn’t Malice, but that was what everyone called him and he let them. His line of work meant that using anything but a cypher was an invitation to trouble and if it caused people to fear him, well, that did no harm either. He had lost enough on the mean streets of Redmond already; the loss of his birth name didn’t change anything. In fact, whatever he had lost before he had been able to turn to an advantage. When he was 16, he had lost his arm in a steel press and had it replaced by the chrome machine he still hid beneath long sleeves and black gloves, even in the heat of summer. Yet, that arm held a small compartment that was currently home to his trusty pistol, the one reassurance he had that no matter how wrong things went tonight, he would be able to take a few others with him. He’d lost his family a few months later when they couldn’t pay protection on their store and so someone had fire bombed it. He had never trusted anyone since which was a loss of sorts. Still, that loss had freed him to do the kind of work he did now, his career opening up. Risking death and taking lives for profit was hard when you had people dependant on you, it took away your edge so he was lucky he was alone in that reckoning.  
Now, as he stood watching the crowd, he allowed his mind to run through the job he was currently engaged in, risking a moment’s distraction from what was occurring in front of him. He knew there was risk in thinking about anything beyond the instant, but the crowd seemed passive enough and he figured he had the time. Besides, something about this job made him uneasy and he wanted to think it through, try to work out what loose thread he had missed to better understand the threat that may await him in that crowd.  
He had often taken money to protect people from people who wished them harm. Corporate executive who needs to ensure he doesn’t get forcibly rehired by a rival company? Malice could handle it. Protecting a family from a crime syndicate who want to lean on a son with a gambling debt? Sure, not an issue for the right price. But this job was different, increasingly odd the more he reflected on it really. There was, as far as he could tell, no obvious enemy to watch for. He had been hired by some guy in a suit to watch his back as he partied and make sure no one took trid, video or even old fashioned flatscreen photos. He was to ensure no one followed his client or in any other way interrupted Mr Johnson’s perfect night ringing in the New Year downtown with the common folks. Of course, Malice had demanded triple his normal fee since he didn’t know what the threat was and that was a hard red flag, but the Johnson had accepted it as if he had asked for loose change. From the look of his suit, he could probably have afforded many times more than that as well.  
Of course, Malice had done his legwork after that meeting, he had been doing this for ten years after all and he knew the price of under preparation was death. So, he had taken an image of the Johnson was the camera in his cyber eyes, the useful replacements for the original ones that cancer had rotted out of his head years before. That image had been useful. He had hired the best decker he could with the additional cred the Johnson had provided and found that, aside from five minutes of security camera capture walking to the meeting and five more minutes of footage as he left, the Johnson didn’t exist. No traces, no images, no financial records, no IDs, no work permits, not even a property record or deed. Nothing at all beyond those few moments around the meeting. He was guarding a ghost from other ghosts and that made him uneasy as he scanned the crowd, noting that the Johnson was now dancing with some blonde elven girl about half his age.  
She was beautiful and moving her body close to the clients, rubbing together in time to the noise that was pumped from the speakers. The client ran his hands through her hair and she responded with a kiss, open mouthed and passionate. Was that fine or something he should consider a threat? He had no idea, so he decided to take a wait and watch approach and see what developed. The Johnson had told him he planned to have fun after all and well, she did seem like a good fun kind of girl from how she danced, let alone how she interacted with Mr Johnson.  
The transceiver tucked in his ear buzzed and an electronic voice came through. Malice was reminded that he wasn’t alone by that burst of static. The Johnson had hired three other ‘runners to protect him. Malice hadn’t worked with them before and hadn’t met them either but he knew their names, their reputation. They were professional, skilled and experienced in their areas, just as he was in his. Not one gave him any pause for thought or concern and he was secretly happy to work with at least two of them, reassured by their presence. Sure, it wasn’t as good as his own team, but he could accept the needs of the client when they were so sensible.  
The Johnson had given each of them transceivers with encrypted channels, the names of their fellow operatives as well as his planned itinerary of restaurants, clubs, concerts and penthouse hotel rooms for seventy two hours and left them to it. He knew the speaking clock voice now ringing in his ear belonged to a decker who was on overwatch via the security cameras and somewhere in the night were two other ‘runners, an exceptionally skilled spellslinger and a social adept with a thousand faces, all working diligently at keeping everything on the level as best they could. This trip must have cost the damn Johnson over fifty grand just in this makeshift security force, which was ridiculous considering he could have hired a professional bodyguard service for half that, another cause for concern. The static faded to allow the voice to come through clearly and broke his train of thought.  
“She’s clean,” the voice says in his ear, toneless and electronic. “Avril Winterson, a liberal arts student. Middling wealthy, socialite. Politically liberal, donates to Metahuman Rights charities, drinks socially and uses chips on occasion. Nothing to worry us.”  
No one replied, all too professional to fill the channel with unnecessary speculation. Malice just cast his eyes over the crowd to see what, if anything may be worth his attention. The rain was cold, the crowd getting increasingly drunk as midnight approached, the band was awful and his client was on the verge of getting laid. Yep, he was wasting his time chasing shadows. Only the money made this worthwhile, the boredom of protecting a paranoid asshole not such an issue if the reward was this high.


	2. Chapter 2

The party continued on, as people of all meta-types continued to drink and dance their way into the New Year. On the edge of the crowd stood a woman in her early thirties, long black hair braided tightly down her back and looking out with grey eyes among the party goers with a hooded gaze. Any stranger that glanced at her may have assumed her to be somewhat drunk herself, her eyes glossy and seemingly absent. Of course they would be incorrect, for she was aware and intently focused - just not on this plane. 

It was blinding, to be around so many people with such a variety of emotions. Deep reds, pinks and oranges surrounded her, with those shifting occasionally into the more mellow greens and violets. It would be easy enough to get lost in them all, but Kallie been in this profession for too long for such easy slip ups. Still, everything had been quiet so far. As far as jobs went there were certainly worse ones she could be on, although at this point anything else would have been more interesting than her current position of glorified astral overwatch. But it would be unprofessional of her to complain, and so she kept her thoughts to herself.

It seemed that something had heard her thoughts however as she noticed something new on the horizon. A hulking mass of concrete and tar, smoke oozing from it in some sick mimic of breathing - a city spirit for sure, one that she needed to deal with fast.

“Heads up.” She said into the comms, switching off from the astral briefly as she made her way forward into the crowd. “Got a spirit coming in, I’m going to take care of it.”

With purpose she continued forward until she was next to an elvish woman of a similar age to herself, with blonde cropped hair and eyes a dark green - apparently that was the colour she was going with today. “Darling,” Kallie slurred with a smile, stumbling into her arms as though she was several drinks deep, “I don’t feel so good, I think I’m gonna pass out.”

Without any sign of shock or hesitation, the elvish woman nodded and slid an arm around her waist and put Kallie’s arm around her shoulders, leading her out of the crowd. “I saw a first aid tent on the way in,” the other woman said, flashing a reassuring smile to those passersby who were still sober enough to show a hint of concern as they began to exit the crowd. 

They’d been running together for years now, meeting on a hired job some time ago and getting married not long after. They worked well together, and they knew it. In the Seattle circles they were fairly well known as a pair - reliable, pleasant enough and happy to work with others. The elf, known as Midnight, had been working her way around the people nearest to Mr Johnson, asking them about their evenings, why they were celebrating… In general, doing everything she could as a social adept to make sure they weren’t here to harm her client.

It didn’t take long for the pair to reach the first aid tent. It was unexpectedly sparse of other people, save for the rather bored looking human worker, who clearly wished he was anywhere else other than here. He turned to look at them as they came in, a yawn passing over him, but Midnight stopped him before he could get in the way.

“She’s just had a bit too much to drink,” she said, using all of her charm and charisma, “I’m just letting her have a time out and some water. Don’t worry yourself with her, I’m just going to stay with her, I’m her wife.”

The human, evidently pleased that he didn’t have to put any effort into this case, went back to his post and resumed his envious glares of the crowd, nodding along to the music.

Midnight helped sit Kallie down in one of the chairs, so as to keep their cover, before pulling up another next to her so she could still keep an eye on the crowd outside. With everything in place, Kallie gave her wife a brief nod before she let herself project, heading immediately towards the spirit which was sneaking around the edge of the crowd and clearly about to start reigning havoc if it wasn’t brought under control. It was hard to say from the outset whether it had been summoned deliberately to attack their client, but asking questions wasn’t her top priority at that moment.

It really was a nasty looking thing. In no time at all she was by it, looking up as it towered above her. It seemed to notice her finally, and maybe it realised that she was here to stop its fun. Smoke billowed from it in dark, thick waves, and she could feel its anger that someone had come to disrupt its fun. Without giving it time to act, she fired a mana bolt at it, watching as it struck it, asphalt and brick crumbling away from the wound. In her head, Kallie could hear the sound of tires screeching as the spirit became enraged, it’s astral form growing brighter and brighter - so much so that it startled her for a moment, enough for it to get a hit back on her.

Back in reality, Midnight angled herself so that the medic couldn’t see the abrupt nosebleed springing forth from Kallie’s body. They’d been doing this too long together for Midnight to be too worried. Instead she simply grabbed a tissue and wiped away the worst of it, eyes flicking back in the general direction of Mr Johnson. She trusted her wife to take this thing down.

_ Son of a bitch _ , Kallie thought as she scrambled to her senses. She cast mana bolt again, this time with a higher degree of success. An entire section of the spirit splintered off, the rest of it starting to come away in pieces. This thing was a lot of bark with little bite, she guessed, as she ran towards it, probably sent to do the most damage before someone noticed it and dealt with it. It was a shame for whoever had summoned it that she caught it so early on. Still, by the looks of it and by its attacks, Kallie doubted this was sent to attack their target; far too weak and definitely just wanting to cause general chaos rather than single someone out.

With a final dash forward she grabbed onto the spirit’s makeshift arm, twisted out of metal pipes and cabling. One she’d grabbed on she cast Deathtouch and finally the whole thing fell apart, smoke heaving out of it and vanishing, whilst the ‘body’ crumbled apart, turning into dust and scattering across the darkness of the astral, the signatures of everyone else indicating they’d not even notice the battle around them.

She returned to her body immediately, not surprised to find her face covered in blood. She’d been unlucky with that last spell, known the drain had been stronger, and so it had been as she wipes away the blood from her eyes and nose. Her wife immediately handed her more tissues and a cup of water, squeezing her shoulder briefly.

“Spirit’s been dealt with.” Kallie informed Malice and their decker, as Midnight went up to thank the medic for his help. Not that he’d done anything of course, but he shrugged and took the compliment regardless. He would forget them in less than an hour.

  
“That’s great,” the voice of their decker echoed in their ears, “but we’ve got other problems. Camera just went off in one of the penthouse rooms. We need someone to get over there,  _ now _ .”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

Malice immediately pulled himself out of his reverie the moment he heard the decker’s emotionless alert through the headset. He’d been trying his best to ignore the rest of the chatter over the coms since he was powerless to help. At least, that was what he allowed himself to believe was the reason he had zoned out anyway, the truth was much more complex.  
Certainly, he hated the sense of powerlessness that came from combating any magical threat. He couldn’t even see the thing that had been attacking them for instance, let alone damage it with bullet or blade. If a spirit wanted him dead, it could attack his aura, whatever the frag that was, and he’d be dead before he could even realise there was a threat. That thought was scary, even to someone who had been close to death as many times as Malice had.

Yet the fear was deeper than that, even being around Mages made him uneasy when they were on his side. The idea that they could look at you and know, not think, but know precisely what you were feeling made him deeply uncomfortable. He was careful to guard his emotions and thoughts at all times with everyone, but that wasn’t really possible with a spell slinger. Worse even than that was the fact that they could, as far as he knew, make you do things or think things without you knowing it. The very thought made him shudder. And then they had their combat abilities. The scar tissue that laced his right leg spoke of their ability to call forth fire from nowhere and even reflecting on it brought the smell of his own cooking flesh back to his nostrils. That first encounter with magic had scarred him in more ways than one.

Either way, he was glad to hear that the two members of the team had been successful in seeing off the threat, whatever it was. They were professional enough, he knew that but still, the radio burst gave him an excuse to get further away from them and he wasn’t unhappy to take advantage of it. He looked over the crowd and saw the Johnson slide his hand around the girl’s waist and together they started to move towards the edge of the crowd, towards his limo and back to the penthouse. “Oh Drek,” he said through the coms link. “The Johnson is heading back to the penthouse. Midnight, are you two able to keep eyes on in case of anything unforeseen happening? I’ll get back to the Penthouse and deal with whatever is there.”

A female voice responded moments later, but there was no familiarity in it. Every time he had heard Midnight speak, she had had a different tone and accent. It was her thing and he appreciated that. At first it had bothered him, constantly thinking he was talking to a stranger, but he had come to accept it over time. She was on the channel, the channel was secure to an insane level so he just assumed any voice he didn’t know was hers.

“Yeah, we are ok. We’ve got visual, so go for it.” He didn’t ask if she meant actual visual or that weird astral visual thing, afraid of the answer. He heard her and confirmed, jumping elegantly down from the plinth. He landed in a puddle shattering the reflected Weapons’ World sign and moved with a brusque walk away from the stage.

He longed to break in to a run, knowing every second he took to get back to the penthouse brought Mr Johnson and the student closer to the risk posed by whoever had broken in. Yet doing so would make him stand out, draw unwanted attention from security and since he was SINless, that could slow him down permanently, but as soon as he turned the corner of the block and escaped in to the alley, he broke in to a run. It was only three blocks to where he had left his bike, and he covered them in less than two minutes, his trained body responding easily to the need for haste.

His bike was exactly where he left it, a dark green Wolverine that he had owned for the past two years. It’d been heavily modified, from the obvious weight reduction and improved engine right the way through to having had its grid-link unit removed and shocks improved. Madison, as he called her, looked like any other bike but handled very differently. Malice jumped on, released the hand-break and opened up the throttle, being careful to ensure his weight was held forward, preventing the front of the bike kicking up under acceleration.

He weaved through the light traffic as he headed east from the gathering, the clock built in to his cybereyes showing midnight striking as he rode on. The highways were wide and open so he allowed himself to relax a little, certain that he was making good time on the limo that would be full of the happy couple. He allowed himself to imagine them together, a bottle of champagne popping open and them laughing and giggling in the climate controlled environment. Meanwhile the cold rain beat down on his face as he rushed across the city, heading towards whoever was waiting inside the penthouse room, lucky to not have to travel through the broken, uneven streets of the barrens where such speed on rain-slicked roads would be risking death.

Malice hit the break and swung the bike in to the hotel parking lot and jumped free, the concrete box of the building towering above him. Three large flowerbeds surrounded the entrance door and the colourful combinations of yellows and reds seeming to be decorative but Malice had seen these defences before. The middle one, blocking the main entrance would contain a hidden steal bar, to protect the reception area from a car ramming in to the building. The two flanking it, square and squat, contained hidden hinges through which machineguns could pivot up and prevent attack. Normal security for an Aries owned executive hotel or better. He smiled as he walked passed, happy to have a pass from Mr Johnson that granted him access since he had had to find alternative entrances to this sort of building on more than one occasion. Walking in the front passed inactive weapons due to the code chip in his pocket was certainly easier than any of those other options.

Malice’s earpiece buzzed to life again, the emotionless voice of the decker. “Mr Johnson is just five minutes out, and as far as I can see whoever broke in to the room is still there. I am monitoring the cameras in the corridor and they look empty but the building has lots of blind-spots. Be careful.”

A second voice, female, Midnight probably, followed up. “Yeah, the limo is making good progress, no traffic or anything evident. We are following behind that by a couple of minutes.”

Malice considered making a phone call to Mr Johnson and advising him to head somewhere else, but he had been hired to ensure his night when smoothly. Being told not to return would probably not count as success and he really needed this payment. He walked through the lobby, passed the noise of celebration echoing out of the hotel bar and at first towards the lifts, but at the last second had a second thought. He didn’t know what was waiting upstairs for him, and the lifts were sealed, metal boxes which would be difficult to escape if any kind of attack came. He turned hard right, the layout of the building known by heart from previous extractions in other branches of this chain. He instead selected the staff service lift, the unmarked back route up to the penthouse, the same way room service could be transferred immediately to the rich people who stayed there.

“Hey, whoever the speaking clock is,” Malice said “Can you kill the camera feed from the staff kitchen elevator to the penthouse.” He had barely finished speaking before the answer came back.

“Done, and the name is Lament.”

No sooner had Malice heard that than the familiar metal frame of his Predator was expelled out of the hidden compartment in his cyber-arm and in to his hand. The sensors beneath the skin of his hand kicked in and the target reticule appeared in his vision along with the count of 10 AP rounds as the system tracked remaining ammo. The floors clicked through on the digital lift display, and he felt his muscles twitch as adrenaline flooded his system, a fight about to break out. This was what he was best at and he allowed himself a smile at the thought of the violence to come.

Then, that computerised voice again as Lament updated him. “The intruder just left the room via the fire escape. I’m supressing the alarm from the open door.”

“Drek” Malice said as the lift door opened and he ran down the corridor and in to the penthouse suite, the pass Mr Johnson had provided allowing the door to swing open with a gentle push. The suite consisted of four rooms, all upholstered in tasteful creams and yellows. A bathroom complete with twin tubs, a huge double bedroom, a sitting room full of comfy couches and top of the range trid entertainment systems and finally a kitchen, the firedoor at the rear of which was wide open, the rain outside bouncing off the steel steps with a metallic drumming.

Malice’s first instinct was to rush through the room and down the stairs in full pursuit of whoever had broken in, but he was a professional and so he took a moment to consider what he knew. Someone had taken the time and effort to break in to this room and, presumably warned by some form of astral or matrix over watch, had fled out of the fire escape. The hotel was high security indeed and no alarms had been tripped, so the team was professional, probably another team of ‘runners. They wouldn’t have left the room if they were waiting for Mr Johnson to come back. One opponent wouldn’t be enough to scare them off. So, the only logical conclusion was that they had achieved their goal in the room and fled following success.

That changed his priorities. Rushing off after the guy would be pointless. Instead, he had to work out what the other team’s goal in the room had been and do so in the few short minutes he had before Mr Johnson got back. He calmly walked over and closed the door, then turned back to the four rooms of the suite.

He had already swept the space for security’s sake when they had first been given the access codes by the Johnson, so now all he had to do was notice what had changed, what had been taken or moved or added to the space. He called up his headwear memory and ran the photos of each room in turn to his cybereyes, overlaying the two images. It took a minute, but he spotted it. A tiny change in the angle of light emitting from a bedside lamp was evident as he switched between the images. He unplugged the lamp and carried it out of the suite and back to the elevator. Only then did he exert the strength in his metallic right hand to smash it to pieces, discovering a trid recorder hidden inside, an offline model that would need picking up later. They obviously knew another team had matrix security in hand and so avoided an uplinked option in case it gave the device away. He looked at the recorder and smiled as he ground it to scrap.

“The guy hid a camera in the room.” He reported over the coms. “Then he exited down the fire escape. I’m going to set up on the stairwell in case he comes back, but otherwise I think we are clean. Keep a close watch, but Mr Johnson can come in. No need to worry him.”

As Malice walked back through the suit and out on to the fire escape, he heard the guest lift arrive on the floor. Closing the door behind him, he scuttled down a floor to be out of view from the penthouse’s windows then sat on the cold stairs as the rain poured down over his head.

It was becoming increasingly clear they were dealing with professionals. The spirit attack had been a distraction to allow the operative to break in and place the camera unnoticed. That insertion job had been done perfectly until he had interrupted. If it hadn’t been for his headwear memory and optical link, there is no way he would have spotted the camera, hidden as it was in an exact copy of the hotel lamp. Anyone with the funds to go that far for a blackmail tape was capable of a great deal. He’d have to stay alert and hope the rest of the team was as sharp.

Above him, he heard laughter and the popping of a cork as the couple got back to the penthouse.


	4. Chapter 4

The following car ride after the astral battle was a much needed respite. Midnight was behind the wheel so that Kallie could keep astral tabs in case some other spirit decided to follow them, but everything had been silent. The couple in the limo some distance ahead of them seemed to be thriving, as far as Kallie could tell - their astral signatures thoroughly lit up in excitement. It relieved her somewhat, to see no sign of worry or fear in her client’s aura, which she took to mean that he hadn’t noticed the spirit she’d dealt with. That or he didn’t care, but someone who’d gone to this much trouble hiring four glorified bodyguards had to have surely been expecting some kind of ruckus. Kallie was simply surprised that he didn’t seem more alert - he was magically active, although she couldn’t decipher to what extent; enough that when he hired her and Midnight he could speak to them frankly about potential threats, but perhaps not enough for him to be on the lookout for them himself. And why would he, Kallie thought, that was their job tonight.

It was worrying to know that her astral battle had been a distraction, it didn’t bode well for the rest of the night. Malice seemed to have dealt with the immediate problem in the room, but him taking out the camera would alert whoever had placed it eventually. She only hoped that their client would be far away from there by the time that happened; trying to conceal an astral battle in a crowded place? Not too difficult. A more physical battle in a quieter location? That was asking for trouble.

Midnight pulled the car up round the back of the hotel. “We’re heading up now, Malice if you’re taking the stairwell we’ll use the hired room on the floor below for astral overwatch. Lament, are we still able to access it?”

“Affirmative,” Came the reply from their decker, “just head straight in.”

Once they’d entered the lobby they opted to take the stairs up to the room, to double check for any unnoticed threats, but fortunately there were none that either of them could see. With Lament’s help they got into the room no problem, and despite it not being the penthouse, it was certainly a sight to behold. They’d both been in some unsavoury hotels with their line of work and this place was far from anything they’d stayed in previously. There seemed to be gold everywhere, from the details in the wallpaper to the lining of the pillows and the patterns on the duvet - Kallie couldn’t even imagine how much grander the floor above them was. Midnight seemed to be in similar appreciation of their surroundings, and they both took a moment to look at each other with a wry, pitiful smile; what a shame to be in such a decadent hotel room with your wife, knowing absolutely nothing is going to happen between you because you’re working a job. Typical.

Still, Kallie thought, if she was going to be back on astral overwatch, she was going to take every advantage available to her, and so she let herself indulge by laying down on the bed provided, which was every bit as comfortable as she thought it would be. She opened her astral vision and let herself look up towards where their client and his date was. Now she was close enough to look at the pair of them properly, and she could feel the excitement of the elf coming off in waves. Kallie also noticed for the first time that evening that there was a small black spot in her aura. Headwear most likely, she determined, nothing to be too worried about since Lament had already cleared her earlier. But still, an observation she filed away in case it was important later. 

Across from her, Midnight pulled over one of the plush, velvet padded chairs to the window so she could watch the entrance of the hotel incase anyone suspicious decided to use the front doors. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d seen people be so obvious. At least this way they had all sides covered, and if anything went wrong with the video feeds being supplied to Lament, she would still have eyes on. The rain still continued to pour outside, occasional fireworks popping off in the distance, the sound of them reaching her in a colourful delay. Privately, she hoped that they wouldn’t need to move to anymore locations tonight, selfishly wanting to absorb the New Year celebrations second hand. She wasn’t old by any means, but these days she was starting to look more and more to the future. Their job wasn’t safe, and the life-span of runners was very variable. But they’d made it so far, were here together to see another year, and she wondered how long they’d keep going for. 

Back on the bed, Kallie realised very quickly what was she was going to be witness to for the rest of the night and did her best to hold back a long suffering sigh. At least someone here was going to have a fun night. A second later she heard Malice over the comms.

“Do we have eyes on?” He said, not needing to clarify who he was talking to.

“Oh I’ve got eyes on alright.” Came Lament’s voice, containing hints of amusement. Kallie wished she could be as amused, but someone being able to see it astrally was worse than seeing it with her normal eyes.

Malice seemed to catch on a moment later. “...Right.” He replied, coughing a little awkwardly. That did make her chuckle, to hear his resolve fracture just that slight bit. They were all professionals here, no doubt, but knowing your client is currently having sex and having to actively watch to make sure he’s not in danger was… Uncomfortable, to say the least.

“As do I,” Kallie replied, and Lament must have heard the regret in her tone because she heard him snort quietly over the comms.  _ Well then, Happy New Year _ , she thought to herself as she tried to remain focused and keep her sense of professionalism about her. Their astral forms were a kaleidoscope of colours, jumping from one positive emotion to the next, it was almost dizzying to watch. But everything else on the astral was quiet, no more spirits trying to interrupt anything, everyone partying in the hotel bar downstairs joyous and happy but not particularly rowdy, nothing to indicate any kind of magical threat. All that was left for the rest of the night was to keep stocked up on soycaf and watch as Mr Johnson and his date enjoyed themselves.

Repeatedly.

* * *

By the time morning broke Kallie had already formed her resolution for the New Year: that she would never perform astral overwatch for two people having sex ever again. At least she was getting a good payout from this, she resigned. And she’d not been out in the rain all night, unlike Malice, the poor guy. Really it was Midnight who’d gotten the best deal out of all of them that night, only having to watch out of the window for suspicious activity and keep supplying the pair of them with soycaf.

It had been quiet for several hours now as Mr Johnson and the girl had slept, but there was movement upstairs, drawing attention.

“Heads up,” Lament’s voice came over the comms, “I think she’s on the move. Make sure someone’s in position to grab her if she does anything suspicious.”

Her aura was still glowing over the astral. Mr Johnson must have been really something, Kallie mused as she watched the girl move about the room, presumably to collect her things, before sneaking out quietly. Midnight gave her wife a quick nod to indicate that she’d follow her, so that Kallie could continue to keep a watch on their client. 

With speed, Midnight made her way back to the stairwell and rushed down to the lobby, getting herself in position to watch as the girl left. A few moments later she saw her come out from the lifts, and it was very clear she’d had a good night, going simply by the grin plastered on her face.  _ Good for her _ , Midnight thought, pretending to check her watch as though waiting for someone. The elf girl was very pretty indeed, it wasn’t a surprise Mr Johnson had decided to spend his time with her. The moment this girl was out of eyesight and Mr Johnson woke up, their job would be over. Midnight was relieved to see it, looking forward to getting a decent rest after all this. Not that it had been the most stressful work, but she  _ had  _ been up all night. She felt like a few hours rest wasn’t too much to ask for.

The elf girl left through the automated doors and stretched a little, looking up at the sky. The rain had eased up but was still present, as it always was, but this didn’t seem to deter her mood. Midnight privately hoped that this next year treated her well; the girl seemed nice enough. But Midnight shouldn’t have hoped for anything at all - before she could react, a van pulled up next to the girl, and three masked figures grabbed her, driving off before she even had chance to scream.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

The loud roar of the gas engine cut through the still morning as the white van fishtailed back in to traffic, moving easily through the lines of cars progressing in perfect parallel thanks to their Grid guide connection. From first glance, the kidnapper’s vehicle was just another bottom of the line Dodge Caravan, five years old, slightly battered and badly maintained. It could have blended in with the morning commuters and avoided attention. But the way it is was being driven, all harsh acceleration and sudden lane changes, prevented any chance of it fitting in.

The whole abduction was clumsy. The way the white van had pulled over suddenly not even a block from the hotel lobby. The group had chosen simple, cloth balaclava masks that wouldn’t fool any kind of advanced computer scan and they had shown a total lack of awareness of witnesses and camera locations in their plan of attack. Now the uneven, panicked driving all spoke of a lack of care or a lack of experience. Either way, this kidnapping was amateur, more reminiscent of the work of a street gang than a highly skilled Shadow operation. These sort of gang attacks were common in the barrens, just an everyday risk; a fact of live like a sudden rain storm or a heart attack. Except the hotel was not just in downtown and nestled behind high protection weapon pits and barriers, it was in a AA security zone. Random snatching of pretty females by gangs or syndicates happened in Redmond, sure, but not here. It wouldn’t be tolerated amongst the rich and the gangers would be arrested in days and given the death sentence if they were really trying to establish turf around here. No, they could not be a local street gang and this wasn’t random.

Midnight shook her head, unable to grasp what she had just observed. How could an enemy with magical assets and skilled insertion specialists suddenly become so amateur? She activated her sub-vocal microphone to inform the rest of the team what was happening in four short words. “The girl got snatched.” She headed closer to where the elf had disappeared. Instinctively, her eyes closed for a moment, focusing on weaving mana around her, shaping a very rough illusion. Her features shifted until she seemed to be a short Ork in the uniform of a street cleaner. She adjusted her stride as her image shifted, shortening the steps and lowering her eyes to the floor. She focused on appearing nervous and uncertain, the physical mask reflected in her body language. She was just a poor Ork girl afraid of any kind of negative comment from the rich powerful people around her.

She moved slowly but purposefully through the shocked pedestrians and over to the spot where the woman had been taken, stumbling past slowly but not stopping, imagining the Ork girl she was impersonating hurrying through her duties for the day. She spotted a can on the floor inches from where the girl was taken and breathed out a sigh of relief, an excuse to stop here exactly what she needed. She leaned down slowly, letting out a gentle sigh of pain, imagining the ache in the back of someone who did hard physical labour for long hours day after day in the cold and rain and pollution. She picked up the can diligently, but Midnight allowed her eyes to wander, looking around. Had anything been dropped by the girl? Was any evidence left behind?

Almost immediately, she spotted it. The small plastic cap left by the curb, the red colour catching the rising sunlight against the grey curb. “Drek”, she muttered, her surprise momentarily causing her to adopt her own voice before she forced the character to snap back in place. It was a Lone Star Panic button top! The girl had a high level security package with the Police Corp. Of course she did, Midnight realised; she was rich and heading home with strange men. She must have called for aid the moment she had seen the masked figures. No sooner had she realised what had happened than she heard the distant roar of VTOL jets and the siren of an approaching Lone Star fast response drone. She knew a van of physical officers wouldn’t be far behind.

“We got a huge problem,” Midnight said, already moving again. “The girl has alerted the Star. Law enforcement is on route.” She walked passed the site of the kidnapping as the drone arrived, dropping the can in a garbage can on the corner of the block, determined to keep up the act. Her magical mask would fool anyone looking at her, but couldn’t fool a camera or drone sensor even for a second. It only worked on living things, not machines. It would be very bad if Lone Star officers worked out who she was, both for the first officer who tried to arrest her and also, probably, for a few innocent people who would involuntarily get close and risk slowing down her attempts to escape pursuit. Best to avoid that she figured, she really didn’t want to hurt anyone if she could avoid it. So she walked around the corner and dropped the illusion, hiding in the shadows of the alley for a moment.

Malice’s voice echoed back through the link, calm and composed. “So?” He said “We are not being paid to protect her, so I am not sure why this matters to us so long as we don’t get picked up by the Star in their investigation anyway. Let’s get out of here and leave the Star to rescue the girl if they can. Not our problem.”

“Try thinking for a damn second,” Midnight replied, frustration in her voice. She had worked with the likes of Malice before. Professional, skilled and capable of putting bullets in to anything that needed it but no understanding of subtler problems. If something was a threat or part of the job description, it would occur to him in the slightest details but more lateral thinking was totally beyond him. “There are other ways to hurt people than bullets or bombs. The Star will run through security footage for the past two days across the whole city. They will track her movements; work out which room she stayed in. If they investigate, then they will connect her to Mr Johnson. I am not sure his name in the papers attached to a missing woman is the protection of his reputation he thought he was paying for. Whoever is behind this is not trying to kill him, they are trying to ruin him and even an investigation in to this will do it beautifully.”

Silence held over the link for a few seconds, and Midnight could imagine the mental shift going on in Malice’s mind as he saw the trap they had fallen in to. His reply came with a more uncertain edge “So we have to go track her down and get her to speak to the Star and call off the investigation, I see. Lament, can you track that van?”

The electronic voice came back “So long as it stays out of the barrens. I can use Grid guide and security cameras. I’ll get on it now.” The too familiar siren of a Lone Star cruiser echoed around the corner as it pulled up to the location of the alert, officers arriving on the scene and the drone heading off in pursuit of the van, now the site was secured by the human resources.

Midnight’s reply was instant. “No, belay that.” She said to the decker. “We don’t have that much time. By the time we find them, get over there, liberate the girl and get her to call off the hunt, Mr Johnson will already be being interviewed by an officer. If we need to give the Star that amount of time, we have failed before we start.”

“So we’re fragged?” She could hear Malice’s breathing change as he spoke. He was moving, heading down the fire escape as he started getting away from the building and Lone Star’s arrival. He was bugging out, accepting the run as a lost cause. It made sense of course. If this was a failed run then it would hurt reputations, but that was better than being arrested. Midnight considered the wisdom of that and for a second almost joined him. Yet, this was a rich job. If they could complete it, they would benefit both financially and in terms of future job opportunities. Suddenly, an idea hit her.

“Lament, can you lock down a Lone Star remote terminal and forge data returns?”

The decker’s reply showed concern even through the electronic, toneless form. “Can it be done? Sure. But it isn’t easy. Why?”

Kallie’s voice, tinged with fear. “Midnight, what are you thinking?”

Midnight replied as reassuringly as she could, her voice shifting as she spoke. Slowly, it started matching the female voice behind the moans and cries they had heard coming from the Johnson’s room the night before. “I can stop the investigation I think. But I need your help decker.”

“What do you need?” Came Lament’s instant reply.

“I’m going to talk to the Officers.” She said, “They’ll run my details through the system. You need to make sure they come back as matching Avril Winterson’s. My job is to fool the flesh and blood cops, you have to fool the system.” She could picture the drone rushing after the van, a straight line over the buildings and streets, closer by the minute. If the drone found another version of Avril in the van, both would be arrested. She had to be fast if she was to pull this off.

Kallie’s voice again cut through “You sure this is worth the risk? You make a mistake and you’ll go away for a long time. If you ever come out at all.”

Malice’s response was the cold of steel, slightly breathless from his rapid climb back up the stairwell. If they could pull this off, the money was worth the risk since it wasn’t him risking getting caught.  
“I’m on the roof again, I can see the officers now. They haven’t spotted me I don’t think, too focused on the people down there and the street. I’ll keep my head down but also keep an eye on Midnight. If things go south, I’ll shoot one of the cops and she can run. It’s the best chance we have of getting paid anyway.”

Midnight didn’t reply to Malice although she was grateful for his cover. Of course, if she failed a dead officer probably wouldn’t do much but get her a longer sentence if they did catch her but he was doing what he knew how. Instead, she focused her efforts on shifting her appearance once again, this time using her memories of Avril to build the illusion. The blonde hair, the confident walk and the outfit she had worn the night before and left the room in slowly formed as she shaped the mana to match the required image. She built the illusion as completely as she could, layering the mana weave thickly. The work was so powerful it hurt her badly, her nose bleeding as the forces she commanded ripped at her aura as she forced herself to shape the effect.

At first, she instinctively reached to wipe the blood from her face but paused. The red, coppery smear helped actually. If Avril was bleeding it would make sense since she had been forced in to a van against her will. The pain of the physical damage of crafting the most believable replication of the girl would all be worth it if this worked. The pain would be forgotten long before she could spend all the money she’d make. Confident the image and voice was perfect, she stepped around the corner and staggered directly towards the officer, the clock of the drone chasing the van somewhere north of here ticking in her head.

“Officer,” Avril’s voice quivered with shock and fear, falling to her knees. “Officer, over here. Help me. Please.” The two Lone Star officers turned to face the woman staggering out and collapsing to the floor, make up ruined and blood dripping from her nose. She was still dressed for the party of the night before the following morning. The two cops-for-hire shared a knowing look, aware of the connotations of her leaving an expensive hotel in the early hours the night after a party. They were judging her and making assumptions and Midnight could work with that if she needed to.

“Ma’am” the right hand officer said, his hand holding a palmsec before him with a photo of Avril’s face on it. “You triggered your panic button. Is everything ok?”

Avril shifted awkwardly on her heels, allowing her body language to show an innocent fear that was foreign to Midnight herself, before she reached up and wiped the blood from her nose. “No, I need help. Please. They… they grabbed me and threw me in to a van. I thought they were going to…” She paused letting the threat hang and blushing slightly, as if she was uncomfortable with relaying her thought. “But they just took my necklace and purse and threw me out of the van. I think they saw me hit the panic button and so let me go.” She said, eyes slowly welling with tears as she tried to play out shock taking over.

“Perhaps, “the officer said “low level crooks rarely want to mess with Lone Star drone patrols. Did you get a good view of them, remember what they looked like? Would you like us to try and find the van and recover your belongings for you?” The words were distant, sales patter more than caring.

“No, I’m well…” She knew how to work with their assumptions now, play in to what they thought of her already. “Well, I’m pretty hungover to tell you the truth. I don’t really remember details. Only the feel of strong hands on my arms and banging my face on the metal floor of the van. Still, could you find my stuff anyway?” Midnight said, kneeling on the pavement, allowing her hands to slowly shake with emotion. “I mean, is that covered by my plan?”

The second officer, taller than the first and older from the grey stubble on the chin visible beneath the helmet spoke next. “No” He said simply “The scramble team is part of your monthly plan, as is the drone support since you were abducted. If you had been kidnapped or exposed to meaningful physical violence or risk of death then the investigation would also be part of your monthly subscription. However, the theft of property below the value of twenty thousand dollars is not covered. Any further investigation will incur additional charges. It is usually ten thousand dollars for a low level theft investigation but we have a special this month and your subscription also reduces the cost by ten percent so we can offer the investigation for just 7,500.”

Midnight heard the figure and was shocked at the costs involved in paying the corporation to follow up on a crime, no wonder the poorer areas of the city were run by gangs and syndicates, their protection was a damn sight cheaper. Still, she knew to Avril such a figure wasn’t that shocking. She would be paying thousands for the subscription alone so was careful not to let her shock show on her face, determined to keep the illusion flawless.

“I see.” She said, pausing, shaking her head as if to loosen the cloud of drink from the night before. “Well, the stuff in the bag wasn’t worth that much and the necklace was only a thousand or two.” She pretended to think for a second “I want these bastards caught, of course I do but there really is no harm done and I could get a lot of new stuff for seven grand, let alone replacing what I lost. Is it ok for me to refuse the investigation?” She looked up at the officer, all pretty eyes, innocence and insecurity.

The officer shook his head. “It’s fine to refuse the investigation, really. We get that a lot. If I can just get your photo and finger scan to confirm your identity, I can issue you a new panic button and close the case as no further action.”

This was it, the key moment. Midnight hoped she had taken long enough to give Lament time to secure the link from his device but not so long to let the drone catch the van. She smiled gratefully. “No, that’s fine. Thanks so much for coming to help.” She added as she stood up and smiled for the camera as her finger touched the scanner.

What happened next occurred at the speed of thought. The machine took the photo and the scan of the girl’s finger and then sent the file through a secure host to Lone Star’s central database for confirmation. At the same time, Lament fought through a piece of tracer IC, sweating as he maintained the lock on the input stream of that central database. He saw the request come in and immediately snatched the file and deleted it, setting off a security alert he had to supress, a momentary distraction on his fight with the tracer. His mind rushed over the processes, his programme uploading two files to the host, one an edited 2d photo of the face of the elf from the reception camera ten minutes earlier and the second a copy of an approved genetic confirmation he had ripped out of a file in the host mere moments before. Both files updated as his programme inserted them and he sent them both out to the officer’s pad as the Sparky programme hit his icon, the red host elevating to attacks that could ruin hardware if not kill a decker outright. Lament braced himself against the shocks, firing off the execute command and dropped from the host and back in to his real world location, the punch-drunk sensation of dumpshock flooding his real senses even as the stench of burning electronics from his damaged deck hit his nose. The Sparky programme had done some minor damage, but considering the risks of the host he had been in, he had done a reasonable job.

Meanwhile, back on the street, a green light appeared on the Palmsec and confirmed the identity of Avril Winterson. The officer nodded “Thank you Miss Winterson. May I ask if you want a link for our matrix based victim support system? The first half hour schedule is part of your plan, additional sessions are charged at 1,500 dollars due to the discount of your plan. You won’t find cheaper psychological support or we will refund you double the difference.”

She allowed herself a small smile as she got back to her feet and wiped the blood from her nose, acting out recovering her dignity as shock abated. “Thank you, but I will be fine. It was a scare, I admit, but thanks to your fast response, I am unharmed. I have a lot of good memories of the last night, I refuse to let this unpleasantness tarnish them. My deepest gratitude officers.”

Midnight watched the two officers return to the cruiser and drive away before she walked around the corner and allowed herself return to her own shape once again. On the Comms, she could hear Kallie and Malice breath out and relax, the immediate danger passed for now.


	6. Chapter 6

Malice finally lowered his weapon once the cruiser was out of sight and allowed himself a brief sigh of relief. He couldn’t say he understood exactly how decking worked, only picking up bits and pieces from when he’d worked with deckers previously, but whatever had just gone down couldn’t have been an easy task by any means. 

“Nice work the pair of you,” Malice said as he began to climb down the fire escape on the side of the building, “now that’s been dealt with, are we ready to head back to Mr Johnson and wrap things up?” 

He was unsurprised to hear nothing back from Lament. With the stunt he’d just pulled off, Malice expected radio silence from him for at least a half hour. It was always strange, to work with deckers. You rarely got to meet them face to face, and with the way things were, they could very well die without you ever knowing; they existed simply as a voice over a channel, nothing more. 

Ghosts, the lot of them.

“Should be,” Midnight replied, her voice still an unnerving mimic of Avril’s, “I don’t think we’re looking at the same people who broke into the room the night before, that was a professional gig, this was far from it.”

That confirmed some of Malice’s suspicions too - nobody who goes to such effort to mask the fact they were present would ever kidnap someone so sloppily in broad daylight. But that wasn’t any of their concern now. Yes, whilst it was a shame that this girl had been taken, their client would now remain safely out of it, and there was nothing more for them to worry about it. If Malice had to guess he’d say they were first time runners, or drunkards, attempting a theft. Hardly anything of note.

“Wait!” Kallie said suddenly, alert and worried. “She had a datajack, I noticed it in her aura. I think you’re right that there’s two separate teams at work here, but I don’t think this was a random abduction. I think they’re gonna try and get footage from her.”

Frag. This job only seemed to deepen in complexity as time went on. For a moment Malice worried that the mages would just shrug it off and say they should leave it - there was always a demand for their type, they wouldn’t have to worry about a mark on their record. But for runners like him? He couldn’t afford to be seen to do a messy job. No, they had to make sure this mess was properly cleaned up before they reported back in. Perhaps Mr Johnson would be generous, offer a higher payout for cleaning up this trouble.

“We need to find her.” He said as he reached the bottom of the fire escape and spared a second to store his pistol back into his cyber-arm. He could see Madison in the parking lot where he’d left her, but he hung back, not wanting to be so visible in the daylight until they had a concrete idea of where they were going and how to approach this.

“Agreed.” Kallie replied, who by that point had left her room and headed into the lobby. Midnight had since retreated back into the hotel and headed into the ground floor bathrooms to clean herself up, and to change face one again. “Do we tell Mr Johnson now, or just deal with it and see if he contacts us?” Midnight said, splashing water on her face and wiping away the fresh nosebleed as she fractured herself into another mask.

“He’s expecting to meet us later today. No point in wasting his time if we’re not sure we’ll be there.” Malice replied. “I’ll call him. Let him know we have it handled.”

There was a murmured agreement from both the mages and they went quiet as he rang the number last used on his p-sec. Presumably the two of them had switched to their own private channel to figure out what their next step was. He only hoped that the number he’d called would still be in use; people with as much wealth as their client tended to have endless supplies of these things, finding it more convenient to ditch them after each arrangement they’d had.

A couple of clicks passed before the call was picked up. “Malice,” Mr Johnson greeted smoothly, his voice deep and warm, soothing like a lullaby, “I hope all is well. I had assumed I would be meeting you later today, but your call makes me believe otherwise?”

“Unfortunately.” Malice replied, not wanting to sugar coat it. “Something’s come up, and it’s highly unlikely we’ll be able to meet you at the time we agreed. We have some last minute cleaning up to do, but we currently don’t have a current estimate of when we’ll be finished.”

“I see.” Their client replied, his voice giving away no hint as to whether he was curious, displeased or happy with the current situation. Malice was reminded again of the uneasy feeling he’d had when he’d first met with Mr Johnson, but he still had nothing concrete to root his suspicions in, so he pushed them to one side once more. “I appreciate the advance notice,” Mr Johnson continued, “contact me again once you’re done. We will rearrange as necessary.”

The line went dead. Mr Johnson’s indifference wasn’t what Malice was expecting, but better that than anger he supposed. Indifference could still potentially lead to a bigger payout. Either way, now they had to work out how to get this girl back, and work out who’d taken her. If there were multiple forces out to sabotage their client, it was a blessing that one of the more useless ones had done the kidnapping, there was sure to be a shed load of evidence left behind, and hopefully the girl wouldn’t be too difficult to track. Provided their decker got back to them soon and hadn’t suffered any serious damage, Malice figured they had a good shot at getting this done quickly.

He holstered his p-sec again and looked out across the parking lot once more. “Everything’s sorted. What’s the plan? Do we have our decker back yet?”

“I’m back,” came the reply in his earpiece, “but I’m warning you now I’m not sure how many more stunts like that I can pull off.”

Silently Malice hoped he wouldn’t have to - he was loathe to have something knock out their decker for good, lest he be left alone in close proximity with the two mages for the rest of this gig. They were very impressive and respectable of course, he bore no judgement towards their skills. But he’d rather not go anywhere near them and risk further injury to his person. Not again.

“Do we have a plan then?” He repeated, eager to get back on his bike and make a start.

“Finding her shouldn’t be too much trouble. Midnight’s sending over the plate numbers, I can grab the security footage from traffic cams and with a bit of luck I can work out where they’ve taken her. After that? That’s a problem for you guys.”

It was arrogant, but a fair point nonetheless.

“Let’s work out what we know.” Midnight said, finally shifting away from their kidnap victim.

Together they worked out what they could say for certain: There were definitely multiple teams at play here, but most likely working separately and only one involved in the kidnapping. There were at least three people in the van - one driving and the two that reached out to pull Avril in - and presuming that there was at least one person at the location they’ve taken her to, to keep it secure, they were looking at a minimum of four assailants. Amateur ones at that. It would take time to get the data from the girl, which worked to their advantage since Lament was still working on the data trail. There was also a concern of whether the kidnapping looked as clumsy as it did because the girl was actually in on it. Ultimately none of them could see why she would be, but there was an unspoken agreement that she was collateral - all that mattered was making sure the kidnappers didn’t get any footage from her, and if they did, that it was destroyed.

“Got ‘em,” Lament said, not long after they’d come to an agreement, “they only parked up five minutes ago. Sending the location to you all now.” 

Malice saw the notification crop up in the corner of his vision, and he finally made his way across the concrete to his bike. He watched as Midnight and Kallie left the lobby and headed to their own vehicle, which he’d been reliably informed had weapons in the back in case they needed anything heavier. But that was something they’d have to judge once they arrived at the location.

With a deep grumble his engine came to life, and he raced forward, not sparing a second glance for the hotel fading away behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes some violence. Consider this a warning if you have any sensitivity to such things.

Chapter 7.

Redmond. The very edge of the barrens. Malice couldn’t help but smile as he dropped Madison’s parking stand and drew a deep breath. This was his landscape and his kind of work. Sure, the smell of decay and smoke, the sight of a gentle green tinge of pollution in the air and the feel of crumbling concrete beneath his boots all felt like returning home after the ultra-manicured urban ideals of downtown. But the feeling was more than that. Since he was nine years old he had worked alone on these streets, making a living doing what he could and there was something comforting about what he knew awaited him. No longer did he have to worry about professional behaviour and minimum collateral damage to avoid corporate retaliation.

Grid guide had dropped out of service over ten miles ago and he had enjoyed the process of guiding his bike towards the van’s final location by hand. He enjoyed actually controlling the throttle, finding grip on the rain-slick, uneven roads. Few people out here would have access to a car or bike and no one bothered with maintenance of the lanes. That meant you could never tell when the roads would be so ruined by weather or vandalism that they would fall apart beneath your wheels or the route completely blocked by burned out vehicles that had been left to rust. As a result, those last ten miles had taken over an hour and a half of backtracking, rerouting and diverting and his bike’s display showed that he had covered over five times the straight line distance before he finally arrived at the location where Lament had spotted the van.

As he drove past the parked vehicle to leave his bike a couple of blocks away, he muttered in quiet amazement. How had Lament tracked the van out here? There was no vehicle tracking system built in to the roads, no traffic monitoring system at junctions or toll road checking number plates around here. Tracking the vehicle through most of Redmond must have been easy but those last miles must have been traced through private security cameras on stores or satellite imaging. That wouldn’t have been easy, especially still fighting with the headaches that the Lone Star server would have inflicted. The decker was good, no doubt about it.

Malice found the van parked in front of a tumble-down one story redbrick building. Once, fifty years ago, it had clearly been a nice domestic residence with a private parking space and a small garden. He could imagine the white picket fence around the manicured lawn and vibrant blue paint on the door with the laughter of children coming from inside in the past. But those days were long gone now. Now the front garden was mud coated with empty soy meal packets and chip packets. The roof was missing tiles and the gutters hung down, pouring rain over the empty sockets of windows. Remnants of blue paint clinging to the front door as well as the red of the bricks were masked by vivid spray-painted gang signs and the wooden fence had been replaced by harsh metallic walls of chain link. 

The building had no sign of a Matrix link, let alone fancy, modern security, and so the decker couldn’t help with what was to come next. Malice knew from the secure voice feed that Midnight and Kallie were following barely five minutes behind him, but he didn’t particularly want to do what he was planning while worrying about them and their magical tricks. Sure, a mage was essential for some jobs, but not this. If the enemy had access to a mage, they’d not be holed up in squatters’ ruins like these. Gangs with mages usually had wealth enough to at least have a proper den with a solid roof. Also, he’d have already been dead if they did have magical security since he had done nothing to avoid whoever was inside from seeing him. He was more than capable of dealing with a gang on his own, even one who took jobs for some bigger player as these clearly did.

As he looked back at the target building, he allowed his cyber eyes to zoom in on the location, taking in the detail. The hollow windows were empty of people, so he was probably not under surveillance right now. The majority of the graffiti was non-distinct; tags of individual artists or the stylised pictures of half-naked cartoon females and stylised guns so common to teenaged male expression. However, he did spot one key sign, a full white moon on a black background broken by the black and silver outline of a cyber-clawed hand. The mark was more than distinctive; it was a flag, a dedication. The building belonged to the infamous Night Hunters. That was a good sign as much as a bad one.

On the negative side, the Hunters were a large gang with members across the barrens. Always a vicious bunch of fraggers at the best of times, every member would have killed before. They were only open to humans, a recruiting ground for Human Nation thugs when they reached adulthood. He’d seen groups of them hunt Orks and Elves out alone at night and, when they had captured them, flay them inch by painful inch using their implanted cyber spurs, laughing with bestial pleasure only enhanced by the chemicals they so enjoyed snorting. He could expect lots of cyber-implant weapons from them and a practiced ease with violence. That combination made them dangerous, even if their judgement and reactions were slightly dulled by drugs.

On the positive side, they were not organised in the larger sense. Each gang house was independent and beyond paying dues to the larger gang leadership for wears to sell and cyber surgery when required, they’d be on their own. The people in there would be between the ages of around 13 and 17 and they’d not have ranged weapons beyond the odd shotgun since they lacked the wider connections needed to get military specification weapons. Malice found himself smiling. Sure, it was dangerous ground, but he could take care of this problem himself. His decision made, his pistol slid out of its holster in his arm and in to his hand and he felt his breathing and heartbeat seem to slow as he engaged his enhanced reflexes, his mind and nerves working faster than humanly possible as the electronic replacements expanded their bandwidth.

Instantly, he ejected the magazine of armour piercing rounds and switched it for regular ammo. He wanted to make sure this looked like random gang violence and no way would a street gang use the specialised ammo he had expected to need to pacify armoured police in Downtown without killing them. Equally, a round of standard ammo cost less than five percent of the other option and there was no point wasting money on these targets. The smart link engaged as the weapon accepted the new load and he chambered the first round. A count of fifteen rounds appeared in his display, plenty for what he expected to face. Unconsciously, he started humming an old nursery rhyme his mother had taught him before she had been killed in cold blood all those years ago. He walked towards the building, the melody recognisable if a little flat.

As he got to the gate in the chain link fence, he switched his visual input to thermographic. Doing so revealed two people waiting behind the front door, one ether side. The glowing red heat of a cigarette hung from the mouth of the one on the left and he could imagine them stood there chatting, bored of welcoming customers and passing long hours of duty in return for their free hits of whatever they fancied that day.  
Malice didn’t even break stride as he approached the door, just kicking hard at the lock side. The door swung viciously open, obviously unlocked. It smashed in to the figure on the right hand side raising a startled cry of pain that Malice barely heard. Instead, he felt the kick of the pistol through his cyber arm as the reticule settled on the smoking figures head and heard the loud crack of its discharge. The heat explosion behind the guy’s head as his brains painted the wall confirmed the accuracy of his shot and the end of the teen’s short, pointless existence.

Malice didn’t even pause to reflect however, stepping forward and in to the room as the door swung back, exposing the second figure. He turned his head and extended his arm to the right as the second round found its target now the door had swung out from between them. The wet slapping noise of cerebral matter and skull fragments hitting the floor echoed behind him as he walked on, not breaking stride or tune as he continued to hum. An open doorway gaped to his left, the lack of sightlines a threat. Still, Malice was quick now his wires were on and even before the two rivers of blood from his victims by the door could combine to one larger pool, he stepped to the middle of what had once been the lounge entrance, pistol raised.

The smell of the room hit him first, the stink of sweat and other bodily fluids. Then his thermographic vision revealed two figures, lying on the floor, holding hands, one male and one female. They were both twitching slowly, their body heat raised and pools of heat that represented their pleasure soaking in to the mattress beneath them. Chip heads, lost in their individual electronic fantasies together. Only able to see heat, it was impossible to know if these addicts were wearing anything at all, let alone to notice the green and black of Night Hunters or just the everyday clothing of paying customers. It didn’t matter. The moment they had taken to BTL’s rather than real human interaction, they had forfeited any hope they had to escape the barrens. That made the choice easy as far as Malice was concerned. Two seconds later, the round counter read 11 and hot crimson fluid was soaking in to the head end of the mattress, a stain that echoed the colourless ones lower down. Undisturbed, Malice pushed on.

Ahead of him was a wooden door, the cold surface green in his vision. Behind it, he could see the heat of three more figures. Two gathered a short distance away from the left side of the door, opposite to the hinges one behind the other. The one in front was in the process of reaching to his own back. Malice assumed he was freeing a Roomsweeper or other similar mass produced shotgun from a back holster. Behind him, the second figure had unsheathed cyber claws, the steel blades cold between the warmth of his fingers. The third stood to the right of the door, next to the hinges with his hand and arm across it, grasping the handle. Their plan was clear, the one on the right would swing the door open, the shotgun would fill the opening portal with lead and then the claws would finish him off if he survived. It was precisely the kind of ambush a bunch of startled teens would plan. More, it would be effective against most threats the barrens could offer.

Malice was not most threats. Instead of moving towards the handle, he swiftly stepped to right side of the corridor. Now he was heading towards the hinge side of the door, swapping his pistol to his left hand as he did, the reticule disappearing from his sight. He stepped close to the hinges, carefully keeping the wood of the door between him and the shooter should the door open. It wouldn’t offer much protection but anything would be better than nothing if he was to slow to avoid the first salvo of the shotgun. His caution proved unnecessary. It was clear the boy with the gun lacked experience with the weapon in actual combat and the extra second his shaking fingers took to remove the safety catch and centre the weapon on the entrance would cost his friend dear.

The door was a simple wooden internal design and offered no significant hindrance to the cyberarm. The empty right hand shot through the wood and metallic fingers wrapped in a vice grip around the forearm of the gang member on the other side. Sharp splinters of wood bit in to the flesh of the boy but that pain could barely register before Malice pulled sharply back on the middle of the arm. Metal certainly passed easily through the wooden door but that wasn’t true of flesh and bone. Malice felt the two bones in the forearm shatter as he pulled the middle of the arm through the gap he had made, the rest meeting resistance on the door. A loud snapping sound was drowned out by the scream of agony as the forearm folded in half where the cyberarm pulled it and for a second Malice felt sympathy for the boy.

That second didn’t last however as he heard the ringing noise of the shotgun firing at the door. The wood caught some of the pellets as did the flesh of the ruined arm of the screaming ganger. Others hit the armoured vest Malice always wore beneath his coat. One however found a route through the door, arm and vest and caught Malice’s armpit. Burning pain echoed through his body and blood started to flow down his side. He fought hard to remain silent, determined to not give the gangers the hope that they had hurt him. Instead, he swapped the pistol back to his right hand, the reticule reappearing as he pushed the door open. He stopped humming as he did.

Instinctively he found his aim moving up to the head of the cyber-spur wielding boy who was rushing towards the door while his friend dropped the gun to start to reload. Malice bit down on his lower lip. These bastards had hurt him so no longer would he bring the mercy of a quick, clean death. It was time to show why he earned his name. 

In a heartbeat he lowered his aim and his target shifted to the man’s gut. As he did, Malice realised that this one wasn’t male but female. No matter, Malice cared nothing for gender. He pulled the trigger and the girl’s charge immediately faltered and she fell to the floor clutching her perforated intestines. The smell of blood and shit mixing as they came pouring out of the hole filled the room. Uncaring for her pained scream, Malice adjusted his aim and shot the reloading guy twice. The first bullet shattered his hand, sending the shotgun to the floor. The second hit his crotch, dropping him to the floor in floods of tears and blood. Finally, he turned to face the one with the ruined arm and slowly raised the pistol. He shot the side of his thigh, starting the artery that ran to his leg filling his black combat boots with blood. All three would die from the wounds he had caused, but they’d take at least a few agonising minutes to do it. Malice didn’t think he was cruel. He killed cleanly when he could, instant death a mercy compared to the fate most met over long years in the barrens but justice was required in all things. The pain of the three’s last minutes were simply their just reward for the injury they had caused him.

He pushed on, passed the room that had clearly once been the kitchen of the house, the back all that remained unexplored. From what he knew about these buildings, he would have two bedrooms and a bathroom left to clear before the work was done yet looking ahead it became clear the whole back half of the house had been knocked through to create one vast open space. The door to the sleeping area was before him and he could see two figures glowing beyond it. One was horizontal, raised off the floor, presumably lying on a table or bed. He assumed that would probably be Avril. The second had their back turned to the door, seemingly unbothered by the sounds of screaming and cries for mercy echoing from behind him. That was odd and instinctively Malice slowed down and dropped the thermographic vision. He wanted to see precisely what was going on since there were traps that could be missed using heat vision that would be obvious if he could see normally. He opened the door carefully and stepped in to the back of the house.

The room beyond was certainly not what Malice had been expecting. The first thing he noticed was the white-tiled walls and cutting edge monitors. A large array of lights hung down over a table that dominated the middle of the space and they flooded the room with bright, white light. The figure between him and the table wore a white coat and a mask over her face, her long grey hair pulled up in a tight bun. She took a small, faltering step as she moved aside to face Malice as he entered the room, hands up and fear clear in her eyes.

As she moved, she revealed Avril behind her. The blonde elf was face up and naked, spread-eagled and strapped to a medical table. She had been bound tightly at wrists, ankles and waist, her tanned skin already an angry red beneath the restraints. He could see tears in her eyes and hear her snivelling pitifully. Malice felt bile rising in his throat. What was going on here? He longed to raise his pistol, shoot the doctor and put the whole uncomfortable mystery behind him, but he knew he couldn’t do that.

“Drek,” Malice communicated through the Comlink, “It’s a street-doc. Get in here as soon as you can.” 

The arrangement here was unusual but not unknown and Malice had run in to it before elsewhere in the barrens. A street gang would offer protection to a street doctor in return for drugs and the odd cyber implant surgery. The street doc then wouldn’t have to worry about local addicts robbing their supplies or other small level threats like that, a perfect symbiotic relationship. Of course, the gang wouldn’t stand up to a serious, determined or trained threat like ‘Runners, like Malice but that wasn’t their purpose.

Those more serious threats were not really a concern to any street doc. While there were few codes or rules in the shadows and even fewer in the barrens, there were some. One of the most important of those was to never harm clinics. Aside from those owned by the syndicates and unless you were a part of their organisation you couldn’t access those, the whole network of shadow clinics drew resources from the same channels. Word travelled fast in the black market medical community. If you harmed one, you could expect no aid or quarter from any other. They were so rare, so valuable and important that no one with even an ounce of sense would attack one. The truth was everyone who lived in the barrens depended on them. Besides, any professional ‘runner knew that he could need to be patched up at any time and them, from pregnant women to older men with cancer to young scholars who wanted a datajack to get to college and escape the crushing poverty, they offered essential services to those with no other options. These doctors and medics were the only ones who help anyone without question or payment up front. Defeated, Malice returned his pistol back to its holster but kept his eyes closely on the doctor, allowing the threat of violence to hang on the air.

“We’re outside the building now.” Midnight replied through the link.

“Good” Malice reported back “get in here as quickly as you can, you’ll find no resistance but there is a bit of a mess I am afraid.”

Then he looked at the doctor. “Ok, let me tell you what is going to happen here. In a few moments, my friends are going to arrive and you are going to explain what is going on here, understand?”

The old lady nodded, staying totally still as Malice waited for the rest of the team to arrive, the only sounds being the crying of the exposed girl strapped to the table and the begging for death of the three gangers Malice had left behind.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> longer chapter this week! content warning, this chapter features descriptions of gore and a scene with dub-con elements. please take care whilst reading

They could hear the cries long before they entered the building. Midnight and Kallie spared each other a hesitant glance before they continued forward into the rundown structure, having parked just a stone's throw from Madison. The smell of Malice’s actions alerted them to what had happened before they had the chance to see it with their own eyes, but the lingering smell of copper did no less to dampen the shock of the sight that met them: Brain matter scattered all over the walls, with chunks occasionally dripping down onto the floor, where two bodies lay sprawled out. Cries of agony could be heard from further within the building, and Kallie wondered with horror just what Malice was capable of, to have done this only five minutes ahead of them.

They stepped over the bodies and continued onwards towards the screaming. More bodies awaited them in the next room, these ones naked and laid against each other surrounded in their own fluids. Something uncomfortable settled in Kallie’s stomach - these two had no weapons, there was no sign of struggle, they’d just been killed for the sake of being killed. She’d seen corpses before, fresh and old, and had killed her fair share of things on the astral, but never randomly and never for fun. This was something else entirely. It wasn’t as though she was about to chide Malice for what he’d done, she wasn’t his mother and these people would likely rot away without any consequences - everything about them screamed sinless. But it was a worrying indication of the violence that lurked under Malice’s seemingly calm exterior. Kallie did not worry for her own safety, thoroughly aware that she could take him on from the astral. Still, the concern was there, and wouldn’t be so easily shaken.

After wandering through a few more rooms they finally reached the pained screaming, in the form of three more victims Malice had left to suffer. The hot stench of blood and bowel movements was overpowering, and Kallie heard her wife curse softly beside her. One of the gang members had finally stopped screaming, eyes wide and staring at the ceiling from where he lay on the floor, his hands gripping helplessly at the wound on his thigh. The other boy kept muttering a prayer over and over, curled up in a ball whilst he bled out. So busy staring in shock at the scene in front of her, Kallie was startled when the third victim reached out and grabbed at her boot with a bloodied hand. Tears and snot stained her face and she looked up with desperation from the floor, begging for either death or salvation, Kallie couldn’t tell. But it was over soon enough, the grip on her ankle went slack as the girl’s head fell to the floor and her crying finally stopped. The only sounds that could still be heard was a quiet sobbing still further ahead of them, which was presumably Avril. That was what they were here for, there was no point wasting any more time with those already dead, no matter how disturbing the circumstances were. Kallie shook off the dead girls’ hand from her boot and stepped over the bodies, Midnight following closely behind.

Seeing Avril strapped naked to the medical table was equally as nauseating as the sight they’d left behind in the previous rooms. The doctor seemed surprisingly calm despite being held at gunpoint, although with the demand for street docs, she must have been fairly confident that she wasn’t about to be killed. Still, the medical table was not a good sign, especially not with this place tagged with a Night Hunters symbol. Kallie wouldn’t be surprised if this was a random abduction, paying this doctor to implant or experiment with this poor girl for fun. She couldn’t see any lacerations on the girl however, aside from the raw skin around her restraints, giving her hope that they’d managed to interrupt whatever sick goal the group had planned for.

“What exactly is going on here?” Kallie inquired, feeling pity for Avril who seemed to be even more terrified at the prospect of more people flooding the room and seeing her in such a vulnerable state. Ideally Kallie would have covered her up immediately, but she couldn’t immediately see anything to do that with, and right now they needed answers. She hoped it wouldn’t take too long and they could get her out of there without anymore bloodshed.

The doctor watched Malice with careful eyes as he gestured to her to remove her mask and speak, with which she obliged. “This isn’t what you think it is.” She said once her mask had been placed to one side, and Midnight had to fight the urge to roll her eyes.

“I’m sure. Since this is all a misunderstanding, let’s make this easy for everyone. We’ll take the girl here and we’ll leave you be, nobody else needs to get hurt. There’s other patients for you to attend to, right doc? Let’s not worry about one girl. We’ll take her out of your hands, I’m sure there’s plenty more Humanis recruits who need your help.”

The doctor shook her head as though exasperated. “Despite what you think I’m trying to save it’s life.”

Midnight tried not to show it but she was bristled by the utter disregard the doctor had for Avril. Seeing the carnage on the way in had already concerned her, and now they were coming face to face with a typical Human Supremacist. She’d been fortunate herself to not have had many encounters with groups like this, sick as they were, determined that people like herself were a disease that needed to be eradicated. Midnight was skilled at trying to keep situations calm and make them o the way she wanted, but against humans like this it was hard to keep herself neutral in the way her job demanded. She wouldn’t mind Malice being set loose on her, if it came down to it. 

“What do you mean? Who hired you?” Malice said, his lack of patience evident in his voice.

“That’s irrelevant. Look, you need to know the truth about who hired your team, you can’t trust him.”

None of them made eye contact, too busy focusing on the doctor, but they all clocked that this meant it had been a targeted attack, and that Mr Johnson seemed less of a paranoid high roller than they’d previously assumed.

“You can’t trust anyone these days,” said Kallie, “but clearly this isn’t about trust. So since you’re aware he hired us, why don’t you share just why him being untrustworthy warrants you kidnapping this young woman? Surely your problem lies with our employer and not her.”

“The fault lies with them both. What do you know about him?”

“Hardly anything, we’re professionals.” Malice replied, although he wasn’t about to admit that the reason they knew nothing was because they couldn’t find anything on the guy, rather than the fact that they’d decided against questioning him. It was still a true enough statement though, you didn’t question your employers.

“You didn’t find anything strange about him, not in the way he acted, his physical appearance?”

Malice had thought the violet eyes were weird, but hadn’t accounted it to anything. His eye colour hadn’t even occurred to the other two, not with Midnight being able to constantly shift eye colour, and Kallie being used to it. Instead what had stuck out to her was her memory of his aura; it had felt a little strange, but she’d not bothered to work out why it felt that way, since it was wholly unnecessary for the job she’d been hired for. It was clear that he was magically active, but to what extent had evaded her, almost as though he was masking. Still, even if he had been, masking wasn’t condemning enough in her book to warrant this situation, people masked their auras for plenty of reasons. And that still didn’t explain why they’d taken Avril.

“Enough with the cryptic bullshit and just come out and say whatever it is you’re side-stepping around.” Malice grunted, his patience wearing thin. The doctor sighed, evidently as tired of trying to make them reach the correct conclusion.

“The man who hired you isn’t who you think he is at all. I think it tricked you well enough, as they all do. It’s not a man. It’s a dragon.”

Silence fell among the room. Malice stared at the doctor hard, as if he couldn’t believe what she’d said. A moment later Kallie couldn’t help the laugh that startled out of her. “You’ve got to be joking.” She said. What a ridiculous notion, it wasn’t even worth entertaining. “What kind of drek is that?”

“I know it may be hard to believe but it’s true.” The doctor insisted. “You must have sensed something was strange about him.”

Regrettably, Kallie had. 

“You have to realise nothing about that makes sense,” Midnight piped up, “what would a dragon need a security team for? Surely they could handle themselves, they gain nothing by hiring a bunch of runners.”

“It didn’t hire you for safety, it hired you for cannon fodder. At the first sign of something going wrong it would know and take off. Do you understand?”

This all sounded like nonsense to Malice. Just because he hadn’t found any information on the guy didn’t mean he was a dragon. He was about to mention this, but seeing the fraction of doubt pass across the mage’s face made him falter in his statement. There was no way they were dealing with a dragon. They couldn’t be.

“No fragging way.” Came Lament’s voice through the comms, who had been listening to this entire encounter go down. Malice truly hoped he was right.

“That doesn’t prove that he is one.” Kallie said, hating the uncertainty clearly evident in her voice.

“But it doesn’t prove that he isn’t.” The doctor countered. 

It seemed preposterous, but if she was right that meant big trouble for the rest of them. There was an unspoken rule that you never  _ ever  _ work with dragons: It never ends well, someone always gets fucked over, and it ends in a messy spiral of debts. You just didn’t do it. Kallie and Midnight had both heard rumours about where some of the dragons did their work, and the fates of teams that had been sucked into their games. They really didn’t have enough evidence here to say for certain, but the doctor had planted enough doubt in them to make them worry.

“Alright,” Midnight conceeded, trying her best to circle back to the situation at hand, “if you’re correct about this, which I’m still not entirely sure about, and he happens to be a dragon, that still doesn’t explain what’s going on here.”

Avril had long fallen silent by that point, laying perfectly still on the table as she, like the others, tried to work out why she’d been taken in such an aggressive way.

“You know what happened between the two of them.” The doctor stated. The group nodded, well aware of what had occurred between their client and Avril. “I was hired to see the extent of the infection.”

“Infection?” Kallie repeated, feeling Midnight’s ire beside her at the blatant disregard for Avril’s person. The doctor gave them a blank look.

“It took the dragon’s seed.”

Midnight let out an incredulous sigh, her irritation starting to slip through the cracks of her persona. “Listen, I know you don’t have a high opinion of elves, or any other meta-human for that matter, but you’re a doctor, you must realise even for us it doesn’t happen that fast. Especially for us, do you realise how hard it is for an elf to get pregnant?”

“One of you is a magician, yes? Check. You think a dragon can’t make the process quicker, easier?”

Wanting to put an end to this debate Kallie agreed and opened her astral eyes. Avril’s aura was everything to be expected - a sickly yellow and green, frightened and embarrassed. The black mark of her cyberware was obvious enough, and she still seemed to have the same glowing effect Kallie had spotted earlier that morning. Kallie was about to put an end to these ramblings of dragons and finally take the girl back with them, but then she caught something moving. Silver and gold intertwining over and over, pulsating within her aura. Just from looking at it Kallie couldn’t say for definite that it meant she was pregnant, but she also couldn’t hazard a guess as to what else it could be with any certainty. She desperately wanted to be wrong, wanted the doctor to be wrong, but she couldn’t deny that something wasn’t right here. She blinked a few times as her astral vision closed, only to notice that Avril had finally turned to look at her, her eyes alive with fear and looking for any hint that it wasn’t true. Kallie was almost tempted to lie to her and say that everything was fine, but as much as she wanted her out of there, and as much as she wanted to spit in the face of this Humanis rep, the horrible consideration that their client had purposefully slept with this girl to do this to her made her feel cold, and left her no choice but to tell the truth. Midnight, who’d been watching her wife’s face intently, realised the moment something was wrong.

“Avril, it’s going to be okay.” She said soothingly, in an attempt at some sort of damage control. “We’re going to get you out of here.”

“You can see it, can’t you?” The doctor pressed, and Kallie nodded with deep regret. “You must have heard about what their kind is capable of. We cannot leave this to grow and develop.”

“You were planning to cut it out of her?” Malice asked, who’d been watching all of this go down with unease and distrust.

“No, I was just hired to check whether it had been impregnated. We have another way to deal with the fetus. I am sure you understand why we cannot let this creature be born. Not with what it would be capable of. Please, let us go through with the procedure. We will not kill the elf.”

Avril was crying again, silent tears streaming down her face. Midnight knew none of them were qualified enough to deal with this. And ultimately, the choice came down to only one of them there.

“This is not our decision to make.” She said firmly. “It’s Avril’s. So this is how things are going to play out. We’re going to take her away from here and let her make her own decision. Malice, you stay here and keep an eye on things. If she decides she wants to go through with this, we’ll bring her back and stay around for this procedure, since I don’t trust you to not just kill her afterwards if you’re unsupervised. If she decides against it you accept that the situation is out of your hands and you do not track her down, she deals with this without your supposed ‘help’. Are we clear?”

The doctor looked as though she was about to object for a second, but one look at Malice’s raised weapon and she nodded slowly in agreement, stepping away from the table and allowing Midnight and Kallie to move in and finally undo Avril’s restraints. The skin around her wrists and ankles was cut up and raw from the struggle she’d put up, and Kallie took a moment to channel mana through herself and direct it towards Avril’s wounds, knitting the skin back together. It wasn’t perfect, the bruises would last for a while, but at least the worst of it was dealt with and she wouldn’t have to worry about it stinging. Kallie also looked around briefly to see if Avril’s clothes had been left behind, but evidently they’d been destroyed after being removed. Glancing over to the doctor there was only one thing to do.

“Coat. Hand it over.” 

The doctor obliged, despite her look of disapproval as it was placed around Avril’s shoulders. Kallie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 

“We’ve got spare clothes in our car,” Midnight explained in an effort to calm her, noticing that she’d began to shake, “you can put them on and then we’ll go for a drive okay?”

They began to usher her from the room, Kallie hanging back for a second to give Malice a nod, having every faith that he could handle things at this end if things kicked off. Lament had been strangely quiet throughout the encounter, and Kallie wondered if he was trying to pull some kind of information. She hoped so, they could use anything to help them work out what the frag they were supposed to do. They were barely out of the doorway before she heard Midnight say “Close your eyes honey, trust me.”

It was too late, going by the startled sob she heard from Avril. Having to walk her through the corpses of the gang surely wasn’t going to help her wellbeing by any means, but they had little other choice. Neighbourhoods like this were far removed from the worlds Avril would have associated, and Kallie realised this was most likely her first time seeing a corpse. How awful that she would have to see ones like these, ones that Malice had let suffer and bleed out. As they led her back to the car Kallie only hoped that somehow they’d be able to find a way out of this mess.

* * *

The car had pulled up outside a Stuffer Shack, whilst the human woman went to get them all something to eat. Avril wasn’t sure if she’d managed a coherent reply when asked if she wanted anything specific. It didn’t matter to her. The car ride had been quiet, with the elf woman murmuring reassurances to her, though Avril hadn’t been listening very much. All she could focus on was the passing scenery, in a desperate attempt to keep her mind blank. The clothes she’d been given must have belonged to the human woman, since they came up a little large on her. It was nice though, being able to hide herself in the oversized black turtleneck and cargo pants, the extra fabric almost made up for the fact that they’d seen her so exposed, but she tried not to think about that. There was a nausea that kept building within her everytime she failed to keep her thoughts on the landscape; whenever she blinked she could see all of their eyes: the people who’d rescued her, the gang who’d kidnapped her, the doctor, and- him. The gang had looked at her with such disgust, her rescuers with such pity. She couldn’t get their gazes to go away. Looking at her, every naked inch of her, she was so open before them all, no way to hide. The nausea peaked again, and she tried to take a deep breath. Buildings. Nothing but buildings passing by.

Now that they’d parked it was much harder to concentrate on being okay. The rumble of the engine had provided enough background noise to pour over her thoughts and distract from the events trying to play over and over. Now all she could do was think about it, watch in hideous, detailed recollection. She’d gone to him because of his eyes. Going to the party was a last minute decision, her flatmates having left the week before to be with their families. She’d stayed on campus, her own family spread out and not able to get back together, which was fine. She’d almost stayed in, but didn’t want to be a bore. There were places she could get into without much hassle. He’d been so fun to dance with, she’d told him so. He’d let his hands slip lower down her back as he’d smirked at her and she played along, knowing what he wanted and knowing she wanted the same. It wasn’t supposed to mean anything. All she could see now were those violet eyes, the eyes that had undressed her back in the hotel room before his hands did. She could almost feel his hands on her again too, how they’d trailed over her body, pushed her down and spread her apart, the way he’d gripped her hips as he fucked her. Sat in the car she could feel his hands on her still, but now when she thought of last night all she could think of was how he’d looked at her, how she’d felt so desired, down on hands and knees for him, yet throughout all of it he’d known exactly what he was planning to do to her. 

“I’m going to be sick.” She rasped out suddenly, pushing open the car door so she could get to the sidewalk. The world span around her and she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that it would stop.The elf woman exited the car after her and came over to pull her hair out of the way, just in time as she spewed bile and her stomach remains onto the concrete. There wasn’t much left in her to throw up, and so she spent most of the time dry heaving, her body shaking violently with the force of it. Eventually her legs gave out and she slumped onto the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding her own vomit. Her breathing had started coming hard and fast and her lungs felt like they were burning as she tried her best to get oxygen in, to little prevail. The elf woman took her hands in her own, which made Avril flinch for a moment, only to realise a moment later that the elf was attempted to calm her down. “Count your breaths with me, okay?” She said, her voice calming like the lullabys her mother used to sing to her. Slowly the world began to stop spinning, as Avril tried her best to follow the other woman’s lead. The shaking hadn’t stopped, and she doubted it would for a while, but her surroundings felt more real to her. The bitter acidic taste in her mouth was grounding enough, as was the cold floor beneath her. The elf woman left her side for a moment to grab some tissues, coming back and offering them to her so she could wipe the remains away from her mouth.

“That’s it honey,” Avril heard her say, “you’re doing okay. The shock is kicking in, but you’re gonna be fine. Let’s get back in the car okay? It’s warmer in there at least.”

Avril agreed. Suddenly the outside felt like too much to handle, expansive and unsafe. She climbed back into the car, realising that at some point whilst she’d been sick the human woman had returned, and had placed some water on the backseat for her, along with a couple of packs of nerps. “Take as long as you need.” The human said, before handing some food over to the elf. Silence lapsed between the three of them as the two in front ate, whilst Avril stuck to drinking the water. Despite having been sick the nausea was still there, and even though she’d calmed down there was a strange, sinking feeling inside of her as the panic wore off, and the reality of the situation began to dawn on her.

“He was so nice to me.” Avril whispered into the quiet of the car. She didn’t want to cry again, almost embarrassed to do so after they’d seen her hysteria when she was strapped to the table, but tears pricked her eyes nonetheless.

“Maybe… It’s entirely possible he didn’t realise what he was doing. They might not have control over these things.” The elf reassured. Avril desperately wanted to believe it was true. The idea that she’d been picked solely to breed made the stirrings of panic swell up in her again, and she did her best to shove them down. 

“I can’t be pregnant.” She said, more to herself than to the others. They’d said it was her choice to make, but she wasn’t exactly sure what that choice entailed. If she wanted to get rid of it then that would mean going back to the people that had taken her and humiliated her, the people that very clearly hated her just for being an elf.

“Do you know what they’ll do to me?” She asked, tugging on the sleeves of the shirt she’d been given.

“We can’t say for certain,” came the reply from the human, “but I wouldn’t trust it to be pleasant. But you don’t have to go through with this Avril, you can say no and we’ll take you home.”

Home. It sounded so simple when it was phrased like that, and she yearned desperately to go home, and more than that she wanted her mother to be waiting for her, to hold her and tell her there was nothing to worry about. But she couldn’t just go back, not when going back meant she’d still have this thing inside of her. All Avril could think about was the worry in the human’s face when she’d looked at her with her magic.

“You saw it,” Avril whispered, “do I have a choice?”

What would happen if she kept it? To think that something was growing inside of her created this strange disconnect from her own body that she didn’t know how to deal with. She’d never thought about children before, never thought about whether she wanted them or not. They were a far off concept, especially for elves who already struggled so much to have children. Realising that there was a life cultivating inside her made her suddenly very aware of what her body was capable of. It didn’t feel like her own anymore.

“It’s not my choice to make.” Said the mage softly. But Avril could tell what she wanted to say.

“You’ve still got time to think about it,” The elf supplied, “we can stay here for a while longer. Don’t rush it. And if you choose to get rid of it then we’ll be there with you, you wouldn’t be alone through it.”

They stayed parked for another half hour, listening to the soft patter of the Seattle rain before they started the car up again. She had made her choice. She only hoped that she’d be able to live with it afterwards.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bonus chapter for this week. I intended this to be a short insert at the start of what is now Chapter 10 and it grew beyond my expectations. The normal posting will occur tomorrow as usual. Enjoy this as unexpected, bonus content.

Malice felt a sense of relief when Midnight, Kallie and Avril left the room. While they were in there with him, he could feel the definition of the job gradually slipping away from him. He didn’t understand the talk of auras and infection and pregnancy that echoed through their discussion and frankly, the idea that the handsome man they were working for was in truth a giant, fire-breathing lizard was beyond him. More than that, these ideas scared him, reducing all his excellence to sideshow tricks compared to the magical abilities at play. Still, he knew Kallie and Midnight were experts in their field, and if they felt what was being said held credence, he had to trust them. Still, the fact remained that they were employed by Mr Johnson and if they were now working against his interest, they could lose an awfully good income, let alone the reputational damage if these wild theories were wrong. Besides, why did he care about Avril’s future? She wasn’t paying him so why did it matter? He should have shot her when he had a chance and solved all these problems before they started he thought bitterly.

The other problem was that what the doctor was saying was complete and utter non-sense. Malice had seen loads of trids with dragons in them. He knew they laid eggs rather than reproducing like humans. They were fragging lizards, and the whole concept that something like this could happen was beyond his capacity to believe. Yet, once again it all came back to magic. Of course it did, it always came back to magic when things were going this badly for him. Magic could do impossible things; he had seen fire created from nothing, ghosts walking deserted streets and even mortal wounds healed with a single touch. As far as he knew, nothing was beyond the domain of magic and dragons were about as full of the impossible as it was possible to be. He sighed hard under his breath, his skin crawling with fear at how lost he suddenly felt when things had been so simple moments before.

He allowed himself to look over at the doctor he was guarding, his pistol having returned to his grip as soon as the other three left the room. For now, he kept it aimed at the floor but he wanted the threat to remain if nothing else. The doctor was standing stock still in the middle of the room, her eyes a picture of absolute, unrelenting fear. He understood that, she had seen what he had done on the way in and being left to the mercy of such a monster probably made her feel uneasy. Good, that would make her easier to control should anything unexpected happen.

His sense of control and the stillness of the setting allowed his adrenaline to subside over the following minutes and he became increasingly aware of the nagging pain in his side. He could feel the blood dripping down from the shotgun wound, soaking in to his t shirt and the top of his trousers. The sensations reminded him that he was hurt and he looked around the room, realising aid was close at hand. “Doc, where are your bandages?” He said simply, his eyes not spotting anything he recognised from his basic first aid training, the equipment on display more specialised than that.

The woman pointed to a cabinet on the right side of the room. “Basic dressings are in there, along with anti-septic’s and some pain killers. They are gathered together in wound care packs. Help yourself.” Her voice faltered as she spoke, eyes locked on Malice even as she pointed out the cabinet, too scared to look away from the killer before her. 

Malice slowly looked over to where she pointed. He couldn’t open the cabinet without turning his back to the doctor, let alone open the doors and route through the contents to find what he needed. He wasn’t that stupid that he would allow his charge out of his sight for even a second. “Ok, you are going to go the cabinet and take out a tube of anti-sceptic and a dressing. I don’t trust you to inject me with anything or to swallow any pill you may give me, so you can forget the pain killers.”

The doctor nodded, and then slowly turned away, hands held out and in plain view as she walked towards the cabinet, determined not to give Malice any reason to shoot. “Slowly,” the armed man demanded, allowing the click of the hammer drawing back to break the silence. “I want to be sure what you are doing before you move a muscle. There is no rush. We wouldn’t want to get startled and have my finger slip, now would we?”  
The doctor slowed her movement down, shaking slightly in fear. Malice admitted to himself that he was enjoying the sense of power he had in this interaction. After the absolute sense of confusion and helplessness the discussion of magic had brought him, this was deeply reassuring. He knew what was happening here, understood it and could control it. He found himself smiling even over the pain in his side as the doctor opened the cabinet and knocked a bottle of pills to the floor, her hand shaking so badly she couldn’t avoid it. She started to bend down to pick up the spilled tablets. Malice knew it wasn’t a ploy, she really had accidentally knocked the bottle to the floor because she was afraid for her life, but he didn’t care. All he saw another window to maintain control. “Leave them on the floor! You need to do exactly as I say and not a single thing else if you don’t want me to hurt you, clear?”

The doctor answered with a meek “Clear” and stood up. She reached back in to the cabinet and picked out the requested materials, all packaged together in a single, sterile vacuum pack. As she turned around again, Malice nodded to her, but kept the pistol visibly aimed at her as she came back towards him. “Ok, put the package on the medical table then sit down over there.” He gestured to the seat he meant at the back of the room as he spoke.

She complied and when she was sat in the chair, Malice walked over to the table in turn. First he placed his pistol down on it, pointed deliberately at the doctor as it lay on the surface that Avril had been strapped to so recently. Then, slowly and carefully, Malice removed his jacket, bullet proof vest and t shirt one at a time and laid them on the table. He heard the doctor gasp as she saw his topless form for the first time. He smiled to himself at her revulsion. People always reacted to his flesh that way. He didn’t know if it was the scar tissue that divided his flesh like a gridiron or the crude attachment of the cyberarm that caused it but he didn’t care. Of course, on this occasion it could be the bullet wound in his side that had caused her shocked reaction. A flow of drying crimson ran down his flesh, a bright red line from the deep hole of the wound to the top of his trousers.

Malice opened the package and used a sterile wipe to clean the blood away, leaving the single ragged rip in his flesh clear to his vision. He went back to the pack and picked up the plastic tube of anti-sceptic, bracing himself for the inevitable sting when he applied it directly to the bloody void. As he picked up the tube, he heard the nurse say something, so soft and broken he couldn’t make out the words.  
“What was that?” He said, eyes up immediately and focused on the doctor, hand instantly on the grip of the pistol. “You have something to say?”

“I said that won’t work.” She said, slightly louder, stammering with fear as she did. “You haven’t treated as many bullet wounds as me. You haven’t noticed that there is no exit wound from the shot. That means whatever wounded you is still inside. The gel won’t prevent infection with whatever filthy shard is stuck inside you.”

He shrugged, “Maybe. It doesn’t matter though because I can’t see inside the wound from here, can I? This is the best I can do for now so I’ll just have to hope for the best.” He picked up the tube and removed the cap.  
“I can help you.” She said weakly, obviously conflicted. “I’m a doctor and no matter what you have done, I have my vow to help humans in need and as much as you have allowed yourself to become a monster, you are still human underneath the chrome.” Malice looked at her with disbelieve in his eyes. Why would she offer this? Was it a trick? Should he shoot her for this mockery?

She continued, her voice soft and reassuring despite the fear. “First do no harm. I cannot hurt a patient, it is against my code and I think you know that. You may have become bestial from hanging around with those things I met earlier but I am better than that. I know what human kindness and honour mean. Also, you are my brother. We humans must stay true to our better natures, it is how we prove we are superior to the lesser races, even if one of us in here seems to have forgotten that truth. “

Malice looked at her, and considered her words. They were obviously deeply racist and hateful and her tone indicated that she was afraid but he was sure she meant every word. Doctors did swear an oath to do no harm and in her world view, that clearly mattered deeply to her. Besides, he didn’t have proper medical training and the truth was he was completely out of his depth with this gunshot wound. He’d have gone to a street doc once the run was over anyway to get patched up anyway.

The choice made, he picked up his pistol. “Ok, come here and do what you need but understand, this gun will be aimed at your head the whole time.” He moved forward to push the barrel of the gun in to her forehead to make his point clear. “If you do anything that even makes me start to think you are acting against my best interest, I will shoot you and worry about getting my wound treated later. You will give me no pills, no injections and make no sudden moves. You will also tell me precisely what you are going to do and then complete that exact procedure and not a motion more. Understood?”

She nodded “As you wish”. Satisfied, Malice stepped back next to the medical table and allowed the Doctor to go to work. As she returned to the table, he could see her body language change slightly as she calmed down. The familiarity of performing her medical role was calming her and she felt some of her professional demeanour return. She picked up the scalpel, relieved at how little her hand was shaking now she had a purpose. She placed it carefully on the bench and then unwrapped a pair of sterile tweezers from their packaging and placed them next to the scalpel along with a damp cloth to clear any additional bleeding. Her tools ready, she cleared her throat and found the calm, professional voice she had used so many times. 

“I’m going open the wound wider with this” She said, holding the blade up, “so that I can then use those tweezers to remove the shot. That will hurt, a lot.” She said “But since you have elected to refuse anaesthetic, you’ll just have to cope. The more you move, the more this will hurt, so try and stay still.”

Malice nodded, eyes locked on the doctor as she started the procedure. He felt a calm detachment from his own body as he watched her use the knife to widen the hole; blood flowing out as she worked. The pain washed over him then, making it hard to focus on keeping the gun aimed but he was determined to keep his guard up even as she focused on her work. That gave him a purpose. She worked fast but with almost mechanical precision, skilfully wiping away the bright red flow of oxygen rich blood as she did. Then, the incision to her satisfaction, she swapped tools and slid the tweezers inside the enlarged wound, agony radiating out across his body. He bit down on his lower lip as she rooted around inside his body determined not to scream. Eventually, slowly, the doctor pulled the tweezers back out, a small metal ball trailing a pink coil of flesh held between them. “Got it” she said simply.

The pain was too much for Malice to form words immediately, but he nodded his thanks. Another wave of agony flooded over him as she started to clean and close the wound, apply the anti-sceptic gel. Malice swore loudly, a curse so creative it even made the terrified Doctor’s eyebrow raise.

“Well, I am proud of the fact I don’t know any trolls. I am happy to say you don’t have to worry that that will happen to me.” She said, the familiar routine of work helping her relax at least a little despite the horror of the situation she found herself in. Her joking response made something deep in Malice want to point the gun at her and reassert his control. Her reply to his curse proof that she was regaining a foothold in their interaction. Still, he also felt gratitude for her skilful work. She could have said nothing and left his wound to fester, but she had spoken up, even though her fear. As she picked up the thread and needle from the pack, sowing shut the wound before covering the whole area with a bandage, Malice found his voice again.

“I thank you,” He said simply “Now please sit back down in the chair until the others get back. I appreciate what you have done. In light of your kind action, I would greatly prefer if I did not have to threaten you again.”  
The doctor nodded. “My name is Nicola by the way,” She said, sensing the softening in his manner after the procedure. Still, she didn’t push her luck and moved back to the chair slowly, pleased at how she had maintained her professionalism in the most hostile circumstance possible. “I’m honestly not your enemy. I am not the enemy of any human.”

“Maybe” Malice replied, “But with views like that you would do well to remember you are not my friend. Let’s not make small talk.” He pulled his clothing back on and stood guard in the silence of the room as they awaited the return of the others. Malice hoped whatever happened with them as they discussed Avril’s options, they wouldn’t ask him to kill the Doctor. He would do it if required, but her act of kindness deserved more repayment than that.

A short while later their uneasy silence was broken by Kallie’s voice ringing in Malice’s ear. “Avril’s made her mind up. We’re heading back to you now.”  
Malice nodded, assuming that meant he wouldn’t be called to kill the doctor immediately at least. He looked over at the old woman in the chair opposite him, really seeing her frailty and age for the first time. “They’re coming back. You better get ready for whatever you plan to do.”

The doctor looked at Malice and nodded. “I’ve done all I can here, we can meet them outside. What happens next doesn’t require us to remain here. Besides, I really don’t think it’ll be good for the young Elf to walk back through your handiwork in there. Do you?”

Malice thought for a moment. What she said was true. Avril was not used to the kind of bloody massacre Malice had seen so frequently in the barrens, not always of his own doing either. If she was going to have to undergo some sort of procedure to undo whatever Mr Johnson’s lust had done to her, it probably wouldn’t be a bundle of fun for her either. In light of that, not dragging her through a charnel house had merit. He used the subvocal microphone to communicate his thoughts with the team. “Ok, the good doctor tells us we need to go elsewhere for the next stage. You ok for us to meet you outside so Avril doesn’t need to walk through my work again?”

An unknown voice, Midnight again drifting in to a new persona no doubt, responded. “Yeah, that makes sense actually. Avril seems to have a magical infection, so we’ll probably need to go see a mage to fix it. Meet us outside. We’ll be there in two minutes.”

Malice turned to Nicola, allowing the threat to flash back in to his voice and pulling his hood up, his red eyes balefully glowing in the shadow. “We’re going to walk outside and get in a white van now. I’ll be behind you, within touching distance. Don’t do anything dumb and I won’t do anything sadistic.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” She replied, heading out of the door. Together, they took their time walking through the mess of broken bodies that filled the house, taking care not to step on any of the remains, Nicola out of respect for the dead and Malice to keep his bots as clear as possible. Nicola seemed totally unmoved by the carnage they walked through and her capacity to ignore pain and death was surprising to Malice. Still, it made sense he supposed. Medics saw people as machines more than anything and broken machines held no fear or shock. As they walked out, Malice grabbed a length of chain from the jacket of one of the dead gang members, using it to secure the front door closed. It was a poor attempt to stop squatters wandering in and getting a nasty surprise, but he felt better for at least closing the door. 

The white van was waiting just beyond the chain-link fence and they jumped in the back, Avril and Midnight were sitting there waiting and Kallie was up front, behind the wheel.

“Where to?” Midnight asked, having adopted a human figure, her bobbed black hair held from her face by a red band and her brown eyes striking against her pale skin. Malice smile, it made perfect sense that she had adopted a human image. They were going to meet people who were deeply racist after all and this mask would allow the elf to better blend in. It was just a shame Kallie and Avril had no such options available to them.  
The doctor looked at Avril, her eyes sad but kind. She clearly sympathised with the girl but also knew that the procedure to come would be difficult on all of them. “So, you have decided to let us help you.” She said, the words more question than statement. Avril replied with a nod, her emotions too strong to allow her to choose words. Nicola smiled sadly at that. “You have made the right choice. I know what comes next won’t be easy on you, but we will help you. I will help you. You will not suffer alone.” Her tone reminded Midnight of a corporate wage-slave taking their favourite pet to the vets for the final time when a cancer had grown too big to remove, kind but sad, reassuring but condescending.

Midnight spoke, her voice oddly direct. “Look, she’s been through enough already. No need to scare her any more. All we need to know is where to take her. Then your mage can get whatever is inside her out. It may be unpleasant, it may not but either way let’s get it done as soon as possible. Understand?”

“Mage?” Nicola looked genuinely taken aback. “You think I’d take you to someone who used the devil’s arts? I am not about to expose anyone to that filth!”

Malice smiled at the pain and anger in her voice when she thought the group had accused her of allying with magic users. He wasn’t militant about it, but he sort of understood how she felt. Magic was terrifying for many people, and while he didn’t hate those who used it, a part of him could certainly understand those who did.

“So, how are we going to solve a magical threat without a mage? Who are we going to see?” Kallie asked from the front of the van, an edge of anger in her voice both at the idea that her kind was being disrespected so badly but also from the idea that they were wasting their time.

“I’ll give you directions, don’t worry.” Nicola replied, her voice also gaining an edge as she took offense at the drivers words. Still, she sensed Avril growing more uncomfortable as the tension increased inside the van so she offered the most reassuring truth she could. “It’s all going to be ok Avril. We’re going to see a priest.”

Although she said nothing, Malice thought he could hear Kallie’s eyes roll as she pulled away from the curb.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes a depiction of a fictional future version of Christianity. In no way is it supposed to comment on or criticise anyone's current, real world faith.

The drive across Redmond took less than half an hour, Nicola seemingly able to avoid every broken highway and blocked exit. At no point did the group need to swerve to avoid broken tarmac or double back to find a new route. Even to Malice, whose knowledge of these parts of town was exceptional, her knowledge of which ways were open was impressive. The reason for that was obvious though, she had done this journey over and over again until she knew every twist, every turn and every block like the back of her hand. Malice missed the freedom of having his bike, but he knew the team would need him with them if anything happened so he decided to stay close and travel with them. If any gang had attempted to steal or break Madison down, he would deal with them when he returned. A smile crossed his face as he imagined what he would do if anyone had been so stupid as to try that. Meanwhile, the silence of the group was broken only by Nicola’s directions and Midnight’s occasional reassurance to Avril as they moved closer to their destination.

The van finally pulled up in a similar area to the one they had left, not the heart of the barrens, but certainly a Z zone in terms of police presence and security. They had stopped in the middle of a run-down block of tenement housing. While they were surrounded by what were obviously brothels and Chip parlours, they were parked in front of an old redbrick church in perfect repair, even down to the welcoming sign out front reading “Rejoice, for through his blood are we redeemed” on which every single block letter remained in place. No trash lay on the sidewalk in front of the door, the small lawn was perfectly cut and even the white picket fence was untouched, in spite of the graffiti covering every other building in the local area. Midnight looked at Malice and they both instantly realised the trap they had walked in to. For the building to look as this did, the whole local community must have worked to protect it. Probably the local street gangs were of the same political leaning as the priest and Malice suspected they would find a productive soup kitchen and safe haven inside for those who needed charity, further imbedding the church in the local human population. Violence was out of the question here, except as a last resort. Even for someone like Malice, a whole city blocks worth of people were beyond his ability to subdue. A team of three runners could only kill so many people before the sheer weight of numbers of an entire community overwhelmed them.

Midnight nodded in the direction of the doctor as she laid out the plan of action. “You go in first, since they will be less likely to attack us if that risks hurting you,” she began, “Malice will be right behind, just in case you get a sudden urge to be brave. Finally, we’ll be at the back with Avril. We’re on your turf, and we’ll follow your lead, but don’t think we’re stupid ok?” Her tone was much kinder than Malice’s ever had been and Nicola nodded as she swung the back door wide open and led the team across the prayer garden and in to the church. Avril and Kallie, obviously elven, could feel eyes burning in to them from windows up and down the block as soon as they stepped out of the van, the group of strangers being monitored closely as they trespassed in the neighbourhood.

Inside, the church was large and cool, the wooden pews perfectly aligned and candles burning on either side of the central aisle, no electrical lights evident inside. The space felt calming, and to the right of the entrance were three trestle tables and a small galley kitchen, all clean and ready for that night’s sitting just a few hours away. A large board functioned as a privacy wall to the left, closing off a space behind in which Midnight’s trained eyes noticed desks and a wall safe. This was obviously an essential hub of community support in this forgotten corner of Redmond, a kind of charity that had long been forgotten in most other corners of the city.  
Beyond the entrance area was a conventional house of God dominated by a large crucifix that hung above the altar. The space dedicated for worship had walls that were filled with children’s drawings. They depicted biblical scenes and modern works of charity but their proud display seemed to be in spite of the total lack of skill involved in their production. Even amongst the modern charitable images, not one depicted anything but humans, the belief of the adults being passed down to the next generation already. A display board at the front featured beautiful, lovingly handwritten theological quotes, mostly those around keeping faith through hardship and poverty. Kallie allowed her eyes to linger on the selection and visibly shuddered as she spotted the words of Pope John Paul IV’s Bull rendered in perfect gothic script. “Unholy and Ungodly by their very nature”, applied as they were to all things magical, including Metahumanity, brought rage flooding through her. Did these people not know those words had been refuted by a later pope and were no longer the accepted position of the church? Had they forgotten the horrific crimes perpetrated during the Night of Rage? She longed to throw a spell and rip the words from the wall, but she knew that would not be a wise idea. Avril needed the support of these people, no matter how hateful their views may be. Kallie didn’t understand the stain in her aura, but perhaps this priest or the group he represented would. They may need the help of these people, but as the runners walked slowly down the aisle there was no doubt that as comforting and welcoming as the space felt, the hate preached here echoed just as strongly in the air.

As they approached the pulpit, another figure joined them from a doorway beyond the alter. A short man in a dark suit walked towards them, his white shirt paired not with a tie, but a dog collar. His thinning, grey hair was brushed back and his nose was wide and flat, dominating his thin face. His large ears and sallow skin suggested great age but there was something lively and energetic in his eyes. He moved towards the group slowly, small steps and bent shoulders the result of the weight of years of suffering pushing him down.

“Father Martinez,” said the doctor, bowing and kissing the offered hand of the priest. “I am afraid things have become more complicated than we hoped.”

His voice was calming, seemingly little more than a whisper but clearly audible anywhere in the room. “I understand.” He began, “I see we have more guests amongst our number today than we expected and only two of them are going to be welcomed in our little community.” He looked around the large empty space, aware that soon people would arrive to start preparing the Soup kitchen. “I suggest we adjourn to the back room where we will have more privacy for our discussions before other people arrive and things happen that may be beyond my control.”

The priest did not pause for agreement, just turning around and returning through the door at the front of the church, leaving the others to follow. While his back was turned, Kallie looked over the space with her astral eyes. When she did, two things caught her attention above all else. Firstly, the astral space in the church was not just clean but actively cleansed. The prayers for sanctity offered up had been reflected in the other plane, a perfect sign that an awakened person was worshipping here often. Secondly, the priest’s astral aura was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Human, certainly, but glowing in gold and silver light, like a medieval image of a saint’s aurora. His emotional state was masked by that effect, and although she could not be certain, she thought she knew what was happening here.

“The priest’s aura is odd, I think he is a magic user” she offered through her subvocal microphone, putting the team on alert.

“Fragging hypocrite,” came Malice’s reply, edged with a murderous anger.

“Not necessarily,” Kallie corrected him, still subvocally to ensure they could not be overheard. “He may not know it. He may just think God favours him when he prays. He does not think of what he does as magic, more miracles.”

Midnight said nothing but moved closer to Avril, hand on her shoulder to offer her support as they walked through the door and down a flight of stairs. They arrived in a large room dominated by two large paintings, one of Christ on the cross and the second the Virgin Mother with child. The juxtaposition of blood and pain on one side with tender parental love on the other was a confusing one. Between them sat a dark, wooden table which held six place settings with golden plates and crystal glasses, awaiting food that had not yet been served. Across the room sat a second door, this one heavy and secured with an old fashioned lock and key. Once the ‘runners were all inside the space, the priest turned around and shut the door they had entered through, securing it behind them with a key on a chain around his neck. As he did so, an electric light in the roof automatically switched on. The affluence of the contents of the room was a considerable shock compared to the poverty of the streets outside.

“I am sorry.” Nicola said to the priest, feeling free to speak openly now she was locked in the sanctuary and had the support of the priest. “That one,” she pointed at Malice as she spoke “killed the gang and threatened to kill me. I had to let them come with us.”

“Do not trouble yourself child,” He said, his words calming the woman as he spoke, “I know you had no choice. There is nothing for me to forgive and so nothing for you to apologise for.” He turned to face the four strangers. He saw fear and anger and distrust looking back as he did so and took a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke. His voice always remained an eerie whisper that seemed to echo around the room, perfectly audible but barely loud enough to notice. The longer he spoke, the more evident the Aztlan accent was in his speech, although it was clear he was trying very hard to hide it.

“My name is Father Raul Martinez and I am the parish priest of this neighbourhood. I care for the poor, comfort the sick and through my words ensure the flock are protected from the temptations the devil has spread everywhere in the modern world around them. I assume you know my views on meta-humanity and the sins inherent in the use of magic. I am sure you judge me harshly for that. Still, I feel no need to debate the path to heaven with swine so will not debate with you on these matters. Luckily, it is not these matters that divide us that see us working together today.”

“The reason our paths have crossed is because of my second God given duty. I am proud of my parish and my duties, but I have also been honoured by visions of angels. I alone have been chosen by the Lord to recreate the Ancient Order of St George, and in that role our paths have crossed.”

Malice couldn’t listen to the ranting of this clearly unhinged man any longer. His talk of visions and angles and ancient orders irritated him greatly. “St George? As in the Dragon-Slayer?” He interrupted the Priest’s flow “Funny, you and your racist attack dogs don’t seem to be out there fighting dragons, just terrorising poor girls like Avril. I suspect a dragon would use you as a tooth pick if you tried to fight one.”  
A moment of menacing silence filled the air as the priest processed what Malice had said. Kallie found herself preparing to defend Malice from a magical attack, but instead of a violent outburst, Father Martinez walked slowly over and looked deep in to Malice’s cybereyes, unafraid and unmoved by their otherworldly red glare. Kallie again risked a look on the astral and immediately dropped back to normal perception. The good priest was reading Malice’s aura as he stared at him but that wasn’t what had frightened her back to the physical world. Suddenly she understood Malice’s outburst all too well. The astral space in here was foggy, soaked in pain and negative emotions. She could feel her mood deteriorating as she stood there listening to the priest and now she knew why. The room was full of astral pollution. Yet the Priest, an image of calm caring, seemed immune to it. Something was very wrong here and she had to find out what.

“My son,” He began, “I am sorry to see how far you have fallen. You have suffered too much for too long and the world of flesh and sin has broken you beyond healing. That saddens me more than you can know. However, take heart. The Lord’s house has many rooms, and in the one he is preparing for you, you will find the spiritual healing this world cannot provide. Whether you believe that or not does not change the fact that He is preparing that room especially for you. However, your wrath risks preventing you getting there when the good Lord calls you home as soon he must. Remember, we are commanded not to kill and there is no healing in hell for the hurts you have endured in this world. Change your ways before it is too late, I beseech you. You can be saved through the blood of Christ.”

He turned to look at the other three before Malice could give voice to his anger. “The Lord has granted me many gifts but in return I have a duty to do all I can to prevent the success of the devil’s schemes on earth. Yes, even risk my very life in that conflict if need be. This world is beset with serpents, and these are empowered by the devil to bring ruination on earth. Dragons as you so stupidly call them, demons to give them their real name, are working to use our own sins against us. Do not argue that you are without sin by the way, the Lord has written your damnation on your inhuman flesh. Only this man and woman” he pointed an old, bony figure at Malice and Midnight as he said that “were born righteous and so can be redeemed. You other two are destined only for hell. The Lord allows me to see your sin and I must face that hideous fact before we can work together.”

The priest slowly walked over and looked deep in to Midnight’s eyes. She found the gaze impossible to maintain, looking to the floor. “Vanity,” the priest declared definitely “Your sin is vanity. Outer image obsesses you and while you look human to me, the Lord has shown me your soul. This is a false image you present, but you cannot fool St Peter when you come to the gates of the Kingdom.” Midnight longed to drop her fake image, appear as the elf she was and strike the Priest down with all her strength. That urge worried her. While she was certainly not beyond violence when needed, she never reacted to verbal provocation that way. She could always control a social situation in a calm, detached way but something was affecting her mood in here, removing that capacity.

He switched his gaze to Kallie who immediately took action to guard her aura, hiding her power from his gaze. The old man looked puzzled as he tried to read the blank slate before him. “Hmm,” he said after a few moments, “Pride. You think you can hide your soul and your sins from me. That may even be possible. However, that you feel the need to do so is laughable at best, pathetic at worst. Keep your secrets on Earth but you hide nothing from God. I see enough to know there are flames in your future.”

Finally he came to Avril who seemed so small and defenceless despite being taller than the priest by over a foot. He looked up, staring deep in to her green eyes. “Oh you poor, desperate thing,” The Priest said softly, almost kindly. “Your lust has not just damned you but also brought suffering on you in this world. You do not deserve what you have already suffered and I am afraid there is more to come. Your body shows God’s rejection of you, but your soul show a more intimate mark of a Serpent. I know what you did, as does God and you will burn for it. But, I cannot allow your sin to propagate, so I will help you although you do not deserve it.”

He stepped back and pointed to the room beyond. “Through that door is my inner sanctum, a place of holiness. Nicola, my students and myself have spent many hours in prayer and study to make it what it is. You can rest assured I will not break a commandment and kill within it. Avril will not be killed by my hand inside there. However, you will have to take my word on that for I am afraid none of you are worthy to enter. I cannot allow my hours of work to be polluted by your presence any more than my own sin. Avril can be purified and so enter with me in search of purification. In there, I can do my duty and thwart the desire of the serpents enacted on her flesh.” He paused and looked at the runners, expected an argument. Malice was about to give him one but Kallie stopped him with her subvocal microphone as silence hung in the air.

“The choice is Avril’s. Let her go if she chooses. Besides, don’t you feel the anger growing so quickly here? The room is polluted. Something terrible has happened in here and I don’t think we want to find out what it is with a defenceless girl with us. Breathe and calm down. Don’t give him what he wants.” The pause drew out uncomfortably before Malice gathered his emotion enough and nodded his ascent.

“Good,” Father Martinez said, walking to the door to the inner sanctum and throwing it wide. Nicola led him inside and he turned back, beckoning for Avril to follow him toward the room. He stopped her at the threshold and asked her to remove her clothing. She looked back at the group, shivering at the demand but the thought of whatever was growing inside her gave her a determination that overcame her embarrassment and humiliation. She did what was demanded of her and soon stood naked before him. Father Martinez barely even looked at her as she did so, clearly beyond lust for such an animal as her. Instead, he moved beyond the door and returned with a golden jug full of water. He made the sign of the cross above it, muttered an incantation in Latin and poured it over her head. Kallie watched on the astral, partly to avoid the sick feeling the ongoing humiliations endured by this girl caused to well in her stomach and partly to see if this ritual had any meaning beyond that.

She was glad she did. A large, opaque wall blocked the entrance to the sanctum in Astral Space, a blinding white fortress of light. Martinez’s prayers had constructed one of the more impressive astral barriers she had ever seen. The water, as it flowed over Avril’s head, caused her astral form to flicker the same colour as the barrier and she understood the purpose of the washing. It was a key, allowing the awakened stain in Avril’s astral form to pass through the wall and get inside the sanctum. Without the ritual the duel natured stain would prevent her passing through the wards.

Nicola returned with a white cotton robe from within the sanctum and handed it to Avril who gratefully pulled it over her damp body. The priest spoke, “Your skin and clothes were polluted with the sins of your past. Now you have been cleansed. Your physical form is now pure enough to enter my sanctum. Your soul may never be clean of your sin for that is beyond the ken of man, but through the power the Lord has granted me, I pronounce that your flesh is now as pure as its ungodly form may ever be.”

“Know that you come to me of your own free will. Remember, the truth of salvation lies in the blood and body of Christ. Without the martyrdom of Saints, there would fewer paths to grace. Without our sacrifice, there is no salvation. Just as Abraham offered Isaac, you must offer all that you have to gain the Lord’s blessing. Be grateful that is even possible for a sinful creature like you, even if the cost of that gift is your matriarchal line beyond today. What we must do will not be pleasant but through my hand and the sacrament of your vitae, we will thwart Satan’s plans this day.”

Avril nodded, numb to the words, not listening to what was said, just desperately wanting whatever was growing inside her removed. In a daze, she stepped through the heavy door and in to the Sanctum, hearing it close behind her. As she did, the words of the priest were racing through Kallie’s mind. There was something here she was missing. Christian magic users were not unknown, although she had never met one before. Yet she was sure that his odd approach to magic wasn’t what bothered her. Something else felt wrong, something bigger and more crucial. What was it?

She ran the information she had through her mind, turning each piece over one at a time. The man clearly had a catholic bent to his worship with all the references to saints. He had an Aztlan accent. That placed him geographically at least. He was from south of the border, a fugitive from Aztlan when the new religion took over and Catholic priests were arrested and worse. He was the right age for that anyway. Then there was the talk of blood and sacrifice. The background count in this room suggested great suffering had happened here. What connected all of this? The man didn’t know he was a mage, but that didn’t prevent him being influenced by the magical traditions in his homeland on a subconscious level. He had visions of angels, spirits speaking to him from other planes. That was common in all shamanic traditions. So, he was mixing the foul practices from his visions with his unique interpretation of a catholic Christian belief structure. The priest was following a corrupted path! 

The realisation was a call to action and her voice cried out two words, as she threw herself against the locked door, determined to get inside. 

“Blood magic!”

At the same time, the screaming started from within the Sanctum.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadly, real life has been busy this week so less has been written on this project than intended. This chapter is a first draft, but I wanted to get something up to keep to schedule. Normal service, complete with full proof reading, will resume next week.

This was not going how she had pictured it. In her mind, Nicola had seen this day, these moments, these events play out a thousand times but it had never seemed like this. Stepping across the threshold and in to the sanctum, she expected that familiar wave of calm, peaceful acceptance wash over her and while she could not deny the sacred space still felt special, it lacked that same hallowed reference she had always felt before.  
Her first thought was to blame the presence of the seed of the serpent inside the lust-stained body of Avril in the Priest’s personal ready room for her discomfort. After all, the very existence of any elf was an affront to the Lord so the place would be polluted just by her very proximity. That stupid elf slut had also copulated with the great enemy, adding further damnation to her eternal punishment. Sure, Nicola had always known that she would have to bring the Dragon’s partner with her on this most sacred of days, knew that the sinner would have to be present for the ritual to succeed, yet she had not been prepared for the burning bile that rose up in her throat every time she looked at the thing. Nor had she imagined how befouled her already disgusting existence had been by her sin. Her hands shook when she remembered that she had even touched the heart of that defilement during her inspection to ensure she had completed the act. Martinez was right to censor Avril for her lust, of course, but that censor wasn’t enough. It could never been enough. There were simply no words, no curse, no pain could ever earn the Jezebel forgiveness for that depraved act. Her actions alone would confine her to Hell, regardless of the sin that was already inherent in her accursed flesh. Yet, somehow her unease felt larger than just her natural and blessed revulsion for Avril.

The Shadowrunner team could be the cause. After all, they were both an unexpected complication but also their involvement was evidence of her failure. She could not approach this moment, the most crucial few minutes of her entire life, with guilt in her heart. She knew her place in the kingdom of eternal bliss would be secured in the next few hours, Father Martinez had made that clear. Yet she was responsible for the quality of her own soul at the moment of the ritual and guilt could send her to purgatory for a while. She took a deep breath and looked back at the three criminals stood outside of the sanctum as she handed Martinez the jug of water. Seeing them helped a little. The threat of violence hanging in the air around Malice particularly reminded her of why she had allowed them to accompany Malice. She had patched him up, of course, because kindness was essential to reaching Heaven, but that didn’t mean she trusted him and his two colleagues seemed completely soaked in the sinful energy of witchcraft. Again, should she have stood up and died by their hands? The option had been there and she would have reached the Kingdom for her righteous act but the Father had been very clear. Her role was bigger than that. She had to forgive herself for what she could not control. Only the Lord could judge her, so why was she being so harsh on herself? That in and of itself was a sin.

She turned away as Father Martinez forced the sinful creature to remove her clothing, not from embarrassment or to protect the girl from humiliation but because she feared the sight of her filthy flesh would make her vomit. Instead, she turned back to the beautiful internal paintings that decorated the walls of the sanctum, images of angels and saints flanking the great table on which stood a crucifix, cup and rosary, glinting their golden splendour across the room. She smiled to herself as she allowed her mind to wander, to escape this moment in which she knew her faith was being tested.

The first memory that flooded back to her perception was a simple one. Her and Father Martinez kneeling before this very alter, the day of her full conversion to his cause. She had been a member of Father Martinez’ flock since the divorce. She had returned to her faith only after Raul had left her. She had needed comfort then, needed to be reassured that her unfertile uterus and inability to fulfil her feminine role was not a curse from God. She understood why Raul had left, needing a family, a future that she could not provide, but that didn’t make her sense of isolation and abandonment any less acute. She had tried counselling of course, but couldn’t adjust to the patronising, infantilising tone of the fellow professionals she had tried. Only when she had failed in every other attempt she could think of had she approached the church she had attended as a youth for the first time in over four decades.

She had felt understood and comforted by Martinez immediately. There was something about his calm, detached demeanour she had found spoke directly to his soul. He had not fed her empty platitudes and meaningless reassurance. He had instead told her hard truths. Explained how her work treating Metahumans had brought God’s wrath down on her, explained how as her hands had laboured to keep abominations of flesh alive, her savour’s had removed the blessing of children from her. Her own actions had caused her downfall, and she knew then he spoke true. Magic was a curse, beyond science, beyond anything natural and she had felt her own natural reluctance to accept those with tusks or horns as human suddenly seemed less shameful here. She was right in her fears, in her beliefs and that felt good. Her attendance had risen quickly until she was in the congregation every single day, rain or shine.

It had taken over two years from that time before she had risen to be more than any other member of the flock. She had been a warder of the church, dressing the alter and giving readings at ceremonies, helping others find the meaning and security she had, sharing the blessings Father Martinez had bestowed upon her. Then, one rainy October night when a lack of sleep had brought her in to pray at midnight, she had found the good father sitting in the front row weeping. He had tried to hide that fact from her at first of course, ever the dutiful father determined not to show his children that he suffered, but she had returned his kindness and eventually, he had opened his heart to her.

He wept because he had been given a harsh truth to carry in a vision from the Lord. He had been shown the plans of the devil and how to combat them but denied the ability to wage the war. He was a blacksmith in the horde of heaven, not a soldier and that failure haunted him. He knew how to call forth angels to combat the enemies of the Lord but he could never have the honour of producing one himself. That gift sat only with the Martyrs, those denied the right to create live and instead cursed to die to bring forth his wonders in the world.

She had thought him drunk and raving at first. She had calmed him and he spoke no further on the matter in the next few weeks. She had almost forgotten the incident until she had privileged enough to see his power. A gang of five Orks had attacked the Church during Evensong and stood in the aisle with guns raised. She could still Martinez, standing steady at the altar as these demons had threatened the life of every man, woman and child in the place. He quietly asked the Orks to remove themselves from the house of the Lord in which they were trespassing. Their leader, a larger Ork with a scar over his right arm and a broken tusk, had responded to the request by shooting a young teenaged mother in the front pew in cold blood. Nicola could hear her screaming in her head even as she stood in the sanctum awaiting Avril’s entrance all those years later. Martinez had immediately stepped down from the altar and knelt beside the victim, his kindly face offering comfort.

Nicola had tried to move forward then as well, determined to offer the practical aid that the priest could not and maybe even save her life. A levelled shotgun pointed in her face prevented that however. Hate flooded through her body at that moment and she considered rushing forward anyway, accepting her inevitable death when the ork pulled the trigger. That way, at least, her final act wold be done on her own terms rather than waiting for these beasts to end her at their own leisure. As she considered the option, she had looked to the leader of her congregation. She had locked eyes with Martinez just for a second or two. She had seen the righteous fire in those eyes at that time and knew something magical, something beautiful was about to happen. That made her choice for her. Instead of trying to aid the woman who lay bleeding in the arms of the priest, she sat down in her pew and allowed herself a slight smile. As she did, she heard Martinez softly start to recite a psalm. It was then that a miracle had occurred, the first she had been blessed to witness. As the priest spoke, the whole room had been filled by a blinding light. She recalled her vision had gone to golden white and then yellow and then gold before swimming back to clarity through reds and oranges.

When she could see again, she saw that the poor woman had died, her life blood shed on the tiles of the church. Her son, a young boy no more than ten, was crying furiously in to his father’s shirt. The sight would have been one of absolute tragedy except for one other detail. All five Orks lay dead on the floor, their skeletons burned to blackened charcoal, the stench of their end filling the senses of every single parishioner. Martinez led the group in prayer and they had dumped the remains of the attackers in a skip, disposed of in death like the trash they had been in life. More than that, Nicola realised then that the father was not losing it with his talk of visions, but rather a truly gifted servant of the Lord.

She approached him a few days later and they got to talking. It was then that Nicola had come to understand what her true purpose was to be. Just as Martinez had a role to fight against the magic and the schemes and tricks of the great adversary, so too could she. Her body had been denied the right to produce human life, Eve’s legacy removed from her. For too long she had seen that as a curse, but she realised now that the Lord worked in mysterious ways. Her own sin had caused her to be unable to procreate, but she was redeemed now. She couldn’t give birth to a child, but thanks to what Martinez had said, she understood she could give birth to an angel. All she had to do was abandon her sinful flesh, accept martyrdom and she could truly gift the world by sweeping away one of the great serpents. She had told the Father of her desire and he had agreed to help her.

So it was that they had spent days privately praying, preparing for this moment. He had seen a vision of the unspeakable act of the flesh between the Elf and the Dragon, knew the hotel and the time. Everything had gone as planned from then on and now her moment was at hand. She was about to bring an angel in to the world and with her death kill the great wyrm.

With that thought, Nicola returned to the moment, relaxed, her central believe reaffirmed by her memory of the prayers and the miracles she had seen performed. She walked over to the altar and closed her eyes. Avril walked over to the table as directed by Father Martinez as he locked the door behind them.

In the candlelight of the room, Nicola saw the reflection of Father Martinez’s blade and closed her eyes, Avril’s scream filling the air as the Priest started to recite a Latin blessing, ready to summon an angel in to the world, Nicola’s contribution to the fight against evil at the cost of her very lifeblood.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for such a delayed update from me, real life was a little rough last week. schedule should be back to normal now with updates from me on wednesdays and raven on saturdays
> 
> chapter warnings: graphic descriptions of gore, violence, destruction of religious symbols/images
> 
> the opinions on christianity shared by the characters are not those of the author, and is not meant to be an accurate depiction of real world faith
> 
> if you think i've missed any warnings let me know, and i hope you enjoy the chapter <3

“We’ve got to get in there!” Kallie yelled as she frantically tugged on the door handle to little avail. “Drek.” She hissed, looking around the room they were in for anything to help barge their way in.

“What’s happening?” Malice asked, the sound of Avril’s screams through the door only adding to the horrible atmosphere in the room.

“He’s using blood magic,” She explained, “the rooms warded so I can’t get in unless we get that door open. If we can’t then she’s as good as dead.”

Malice knew nothing of blood magic but he could hazard an educated guess as to what it involved, and seeing how worried Kallie was, and how Midnight had paled at her words and had begun to look through drawers in a hurry, made something twist sharply in his stomach. He was almost tempted to just shoot through the door until they could barge through, but he knew they’d risk casualties if they did that. Not that he cared about the doctor and the priest, but they’d gone this far to keep Avril alive, it would have been a shame to accidentally kill her with a stray bullet that wasn’t intended for her. Midnight stormed over to the door with a large figurine of the Virgin Mary, wasting no time in bringing it down against the door handle. Regrettably it had no effect other than smashing the bust and scattering chunks of marble all over the floor, as well as increasing tensions in the room. Perhaps all they needed was more force, Malice thought. 

“Stand back.” He warned them, letting them get far enough away before he rammed the door with his cyber arm. The frame splintered, but the door itself stayed resolutely shut. The screaming from inside seemed to finally stop, making Malice concerned that they were too late. Going for a different force, he stood back, lifted a leg up and kicked the door as hard as he could. A sharp pain shot up through his leg, more wood coming away from the frame, and yet still no open door. Malice cursed, looking back at the others to see if they’d found anything else, but they just stared at him with a mirrored look of concern. 

He was about to go in for another shoulder charge when all of a sudden the door opened, Father Martinez stood looking at them all with a wild look in his eyes. Before any of the others could react, Malice charged forward and grabbed him by the throat, ready to put an end to this all and snap the man’s neck. So focused he was on making sure his fingers were tightly secured around the priest’s neck that he did not notice what was also in the room with them.

“Behold…” Martinez coughed, trying to look behind him, “Salvation…”

Curiosity getting the better of him, Malice followed Martinez’s gaze, trying to work out what he was referencing.

The moment he saw it, he immediately let Martinez go.

Fear shook him to his core. He didn't breathe, move, make any kind of sound in case it heard him. Kallie and Midnight had frozen in similar positions. For a moment all that could be heard in the room was Martinez’s strained breaths, and the quiet dripping of blood from an altar in the centre of the room, where Avril lay completely still. Laid beneath the altar was the body of Nicola with her throat slit open, looking eerily at peace with her eyes wide and a smile gracing her features. Kallie could see the muscles in her neck from where her throat had been cut, but for such a big gash there was hardly any mess. Looking back at the altar a golden chalice stood proudly on it, and it became clear what was in it. For a moment Kallie thought Avril was dead and that they’d been too late, since her skin was as pale as Nicola’s, but her chest rose and fell ever so slightly even with her eyes shut. Blood coated her legs, running off the altar and beside her on a separate table lay an old hand crank drill, well-kept despite it’s obvious age. It was also covered in blood. Horror ran through Kallie when she realised what they’d done, but that horror was overshadowed when she looked up from the two bodies and saw the ‘salvation’ Martinez spoke of.

Behind the altar was a creature unlike any of them had ever seen before. In the silence it unfurled it’s bony, emaciated wings, dripping viscera and blood. It floated above the ground, almost eight feet in height, and with its wings spread it was almost twelve foot across. Its body was skeletal, skin clinging tightly to the bones as though suctioned on, its fingers elongated and sharp. Around its head were interlocking halos, amassed with thorns, and on its face there were several eyes, with slitted pupils looking at all of them in the room. Kallie knew it for what it was, a blood spirit, and by the looks of it a great form one too. Martinez looked at it with wonder and began to murmur prayers under his breath, which Kallie feared would only make it stronger. He’d already created this monstrosity, she couldn’t let it get anymore powerful. Now that they were through the wards she quickly channeled the mana around her and threw it back at the spirit. All of its eyes turned to her, the spell not seeming to have had any impact. A low hum in the room began, slowly increasing in intensity. Martinez moved away towards the back wall, his eyes following his ‘angel’, which had outstretched its gaunt, pointed fingers towards Avril.

“I’m going to try dispel it, we can’t let it kill her,” Kallie said into her subvocal microphone, as the humming increased, “but I’m going to have to take a lot of drain, it’s not going to be pretty. Mid can you distract it? I’ve got a better chance if it’s not focused on me.”

The spirit was a hair’s breadth away from reaching out and grabbing Avril, but Kallie channeled more mana through her to throw a manaball at it, immediately feeling her nose and ears bleed as the spell rushed through her. Her head hurt fiercely, but she managed to hit the spirit, and whilst she couldn’t tell if she’d managed to do any damage to it, it did manage to distract it from Avril. It looked back at her, all of its eyes now focused on who’d tried to attack it. As it attempted to rush forward towards Kallie, Midnight, who had pulled out the small blade she always hid in her boot, intercepted it and made a slash at one of its wings. A matted chunk of bloody feathers and bones dropped to the floor with a wet smack and the spirit reared with a painful shriek. The background hum in the room heightened again, the tinny noise making everyone’s ears ache and instilling a fresh wave of fear in them all. Trying to pluck up some courage from within, Kallie tried to throw another manabolt, but she felt it stutter from within, the distractions from the spirit stopping the spell in its tracks before she could wield it properly. Blood started to pour from her eyes and she cursed under her breath. Meanwhile Midnight tried again to make a slash at the spirit’s wings, but it had decided to defend itself, manifesting a sword of bones and fighting back against her small blade. There was little she could do but try to dodge it’s attacks, at one point stumbling backwards and knocking over the chalice of blood, sending it all spilling to the floor, staining the white tiles red. When it swung at her again she managed to duck under the attack and hit back with her own weapon, cutting more of its wing off. There was no time for victory however as in the next moment she slipped on the spilled blood and fell to the ground, landing next to Nicola’s corpse. Her blade slid away from her and she cursed as she tried to get back up, only to slip more against the bloody tiles. The spirit hovered in front of her, sword held high, and Midnight looked to Malice for help, but he stood frozen in fear still.

Kallie could barely keep her head up with the way the humming bore straight into her head, and how much her body ached with the drain that had rushed through her, but she’d be damned if she let this thing hurt her wife. Using every bit of strength she could, she ran towards the spirit and jumped, reaching out to grab onto the halos covered in thorns. The moment she connected she cast deathtouch, crying out in pain as the thorns pierced the skin of her hands. The spirit, ‘angel’, monstrosity that had been created screeched again, and suddenly seemed to disappear, exploding in a shower of blood, viscera and flesh. Kallie dropped as it vanished, her body making a horrible smack as she fell on the hard floor. She felt the drain pass through her again and for a moment she thought she was going to finally pass out, but she managed to hold on by a thread. Midnight crawled over to her and began to check her immediately, and Kallie, too exhausted to do much else, let her. Distantly she recognised the sound of a door slamming, and realised that Martinez must have decided that was as good a moment as any to duck out. Though as far as he was concerned his work was done, he’d conjured his ‘angel’, and now it was free to reap the consequences.

Malice also seemed to finally snap out of his fear induced state at the sound of the door. He looked in its direction and immediately began heading that way, but Kallie called out to stop him. “Wait!” She cried out, wincing as the sudden movement made the room spin. “Don’t go after him, we need to get back to Mr Johnson.”

Malice looked at her with disbelief. “After everything this guy’s done you want us to just leave him? You saw what he did, now you’ve destroyed it we can kill him and put an end to this, don’t think I’m going to give him another chance to create more monsters like that.”

Kallie felt bad for him. It was clear the man had a deep set fear of magic, and seeing the blood spirit must have shaken him to his core. No doubt he was embarrassed to have been so paralysed with fear that he could barely move, but this was no time for him to try to prove himself. They knew what he was capable of, and Kallie was fully aware of how the spirit had used fear against them. He could get his revenge later, but they needed him with them, or all they’d done would be for nothing.

“We didn’t destroy it, it hopped planes to get out of the room. All we did was distract it, but it has a connection to the Johnson, that’s why they needed Avril, for the DNA sample. We have to warn him, or we’re all going to be fragged, and you can kiss any payment goodbye. Please Malice, I understand your anger but we don’t have time for it now.”

Malice grunted, looking towards the doorway with conflicted interest, but ultimately sighing and nodding to the pair, the desire to get paid outweighing vengeance, at least for the time being. Midnight helped Kallie to her feet, trying to ignore the bloody mess around them. Once her wife was steady she turned her attention to Avril, checking her pulse. It was there, but faintly, and Midnight knew they had to get her to someone who could heal her fast, or else this would be the end for her.

“Malice we’re gonna need you to drive us back to Mr Johnson. I’ll stay in the back and take care of Avril, if she can make it through the journey.”

“You want to take her back to him?” Malice asked. “Isn’t that counterproductive? I’m not saying I believed this bullshit Martinez was spewing, but surely taking her back to the Johnson is a bad idea.”

“What choice do we have? If he can’t heal her then no one can. If you can think of a better option then let me know, but for now this is all we have.”

“I need to warn him,” Kallie explained, “that spirit is going after him right now. If I can get to him before it can then we might still end up in his good books. Let’s go, that van should still be parked outside.”

Midnight retrieved her knife from the floor whilst Malice picked up Avril, not giving the ritual chamber, or the body of Nicola a spare glance as they finally exited the room. He led the group back through the church, much to the shock of the few congregation members who were setting up for a service. Malice wondered what was more alarming to them, the blood covering his partners, or the fact that he carried an elf in his arms. After what he’d learnt about this place, he wouldn’t be surprised if it was the latter. Given the state of disarray they group were in, nobody tried to stop them on the way out. Lucky for them, since Malice was ready to kill anyone who stood in their way. He placed Avril in the backseat where Midnight was able to take over watch on her, and got into the front seat. Kallie was immediately unconscious the moment she was sat down, not wanting to waste anymore time in getting her warning out. Malice was in no way a religious man, but as he drove them out and away from the church, he almost prayed for the building to burn down and crush the remaining congregation.


	13. Chapter 13

Malice had driven away from the church and rapidly accelerated through the neighbourhood as quickly as was possible. His first goal was simple, get as far away from the damned place and the surrounding neighbourhood as rapidly as the van would allow. He wished he had the superior acceleration of his bike beneath him, but he had to work with what he had so the van would have to do. Even away from the sanctum and the blood and the angel, he knew the threat wasn’t gone yet. He could take out quite a few of the local toughs if he needed to, he knew that. Actually, after his twin failures inside the sanctum with neither the priest nor the angel falling to his gun, a large part of him longed for the release such total violence against the local population would provide. However, he also knew that a bloodbath on the scale that would result from taking on an entire parish and their inevitable Lone Star or Knight Errant back up would ultimately either get him in a news broadcast, a jail cell or a casket, None of those outcomes led to pay, so it wasn’t the right play no matter how much Malice wanted to draw more blood. Now was the time for flight and as much as it galled him to do so, he drove away from the site of the ritual and his humiliation and towards Downtown.

It was only when he pulled out on to the freeway a minute later that he realised his problem. He had no idea where he was actually heading to, only what he was leaving behind. The idea of heading to the Johnson made sense in theory, but they were assuming he would still be in the hotel room in Downtown. Knowing his love of excitement and pleasure and new experiences, that now struck Malice as unlikely at best. Kallie, collapsed in the back, was rushing over the astral plane at the speed of thought, presumably using the same astral signature from Avril as the monstrous angel to find Mr Johnson. He knew she was in a race with the horrific thing and that would be trying to chase the same thread back to its target as soon as it returned from the metaplanes. His failure to end the creature when he had the chance had allowed it to escape and now it was outside the warded box of Martinez’s sanctum and who know what it would do when its mission was completed. Midnight had assured him that Kallie would succeed in an hour or two at most, but whether or not that would be quicker than that horrific blood stained thing, she couldn’t even begin to guess. Either way, knowing the race was happening really didn’t help him much. Even assuming Kallie found Mr Johnson first, she’d still have to leave his defence to tell the team where he was and then Malice would have to drive from wherever the van happened to be at that point to wherever the fight was to occur. By then, it could be too late and the opportunity for payment slipped away beneath the bloody blade of the angel. No, he simply had to do something more proactive. Besides, he’d be damned if he relied on magic for anything anymore. The pressure headache from his encounter with the spirit was still there, a dull, throbbing reminder of why technological solutions would always be more reliable than magical.

He shook his head and accepted some level of professional failure for a third time. He slowed down and joined the flow of traffic heading generally towards downtown, wanting to keep moving but not really sure of his destination. Then, he dialled the last-gasp matrix alert number the Johnson had given him, unable to prevent the interruption now. The commlink in his ear buzzed gently as it rang out and then faded to static before a broken sound signal returned. That response was patchy and weak from being rerouted through at least three different matrix addresses on opposite sides of the world but the process did secure the communication against any kind of trace. He just had to accept it adding a moment’s delay to everything that was said as the cost of security.

“What?” The Johnson said, his voice indicating extreme frustration at the unexpected interruption.

“Sorry. Things got complicated,” Malice replied, calm and professional.

“Of course, that is why I paid you so well, remember. You promised you could deal with complications.” The reply was offhand, distracted as much as angry perhaps.

“Not this type of complex. I don’t know anyone who would be confident they could deal with this level of complicated, believe me. I know it sounds crazy but we have got a very large, very angry angel that drips blood heading your way.”

Suddenly the reply was far from distracted, the words measured, a steely determination behind them. “I see. A worthy challenge even for you, I assume you have a plan?”

“Kallie is inbound,” Malice said, “Well, her spirit or whatever is, but I suggest you fragging hide. We fought this thing once already and barely scratched it. It wants your blood. We are on the road heading towards you for physical support but unless you give us an address we won’t be able to find you in time so you’ll be on your own. Of course, maybe that idea doesn’t bother you. Perhaps it turns out you are more capable than we are?”

The voice at the other end faltered a second as it considered the comment. “What does that mean? What have you heard?”

“Word on the street is that you are a dragon Chummer. I know that sounds ridiculous, but Kallie thinks it possible. For your sake, at this moment I really hope you are. We are probably over matched this time. The thing that is hunting you is nasty.”

A long pause greeted that response before the resigned reply. “Ok, we clearly need to talk. There is a Northrop Air hanger at the Sea-Tac industrial estate. Number 19B. The hexadecimal entrance code is set to E67G918, repeat 19B, E67G918.” The information given, the line went dead and Malice swung the van around, heading straight towards the airport as Avril clung to both consciousness and life in the back of the van.

Meanwhile, Kallie was following the thin traces of an astral trail. The seed inside Avril glowed as bright on the astral as anything she had seen. From that fact, she had thought the astral trace would be easy. Yet somehow, the path twisted away at every turn. She’d follow what seemed like a certain direction only to find it petering out to nothing a few seconds later, forcing her to turn back on herself to reorient herself to the magical trail. She had no meaningful idea where she was in the physical geography of the city after a short while, the glow of auras surrounding her identical in any residential area within the sprawl. Still, she knew she had to work fast. Somewhere in the city, somewhere probably not too far away, that thing was following the same trail. She dreaded running in to it on the astral plane, her body miles away. As skilled and practiced as she was, she was a visitor here and it was a native. She felt her paranoia impacting on her senses vas she allowed herself to worry about that possibility. She convinced herself that she could sense the polluted thing just behind her, catching her by the second despite the fact that her logical brain told her it was just as likely to be ahead of her as behind. If she had been in her meat body, she knew she’d be crawling with goose flesh but the only sign of her dread on the astral was a darker tint to her aura, making it seem slightly smaller. It was an odd astral echo of the instinctual reactions of a scared child in a moonlight bedroom. Her astral form was drawing itself up in to a ball to keep the nightmare from spotting her.

The fear was matched by a frustration that grew with every dead end, every faded trace. The negative emotions radiated off her to the astral space around her. This wasn’t possible. She had done dozens of astral tracking jobs before, easy money for someone with her gifts and she knew that no mortal could hide or complicate an astral track like this. Sure, cleansing could delete the trail and passing through a warded area would break it clean off, but this wasn’t like that. The trail seemed to twist and shift and move like a serpent winding through the city. Kallie knew she couldn’t believe anything the corrupted priest and his followers had told her, but she had no doubt that Mr Johnson was at least an unusually skilled magic user, a very high grade initiate. Yet the theory that he was a dragon stuck in her mind. It just felt right to her somehow and her gifts meant her gut feelings were rarely too far wrong.

She moved towards a small, frozen stream, the occasional astral form of a fish darting by as she pursued the traces of astral echo towards the shore before, once again it faded away to nothing. For what seemed like the thousandth time, Kallie found herself having to search her surroundings, seeking the end of the thread she had lost, or more accurately had been hidden from her. This time though, it seemed impossible. There was not so much as a faded hint as to what direction she should head next to get closer to whatever had injected that seed in to Avril. She sighed, defeated. Frag it, this Johnson was powerful to pull a stunt like this. He could deal with the damn spirit himself. She’d followed the path for what was probably an hour and still was no further on. Few people she had met had the power to do that and he’d know the work she’d put in. He’d reduce her pay, sure, but he couldn’t deny the services she had provided surely? Still, she needed to get paid and any Johnson didn’t need more than half an excuse to refuse all payment. What choice did she have though, the trail had gone could and so he was on his own. An exceptional mage against such a powerful corrupted spirit would be an interesting match, she thought. A shame she would miss out on front row seats to that fight.  
She had resolved to return to her meat body and try to approach Johnson on the physical plane, allowing herself to accept that if the Spirit found Mr Johnson first, she would not be at fault because she had done all she could. At that precise moment, the faint path she had been following, that broken web of breadcrumbs, broke out in to a purple blaze, a river of fire so clear that Kallie suspected even Midnight, as undeveloped as her astral senses were, could have followed it were she there. There was no doubt this was no accident. Mr Johnson had decided, for whatever reason, to reveal his trail. This was an invitation, an offer for whoever was tracing him to come and face him. Perhaps he was tired of hiding and had decided to face his fate head on, or maybe he was hoping Kallie would get there rapidly enough to offer support. Somehow though, Kallie sensed that the illuminated path was a challenge, a threat that said follow me if you dare. That emotional seed around the trail seemed bad news, but it didn’t matter to Kallie. She had the path now and rushed off to follow it, wherever it may lead.

With the trail burning like a beacon, Kallie covered the last twenty miles to Mr Johnson in less than a minute, despite the first hour of her search seemingly having gotten her nowhere. She had expected to find the trail leading back to the heart of downtown, terminating in a sea of luxury, securely arriving in an environment of the Johnson’s choosing. Wards would not have surprised her, nor would a handful of summoned spirits or elementals. He clearly had the magical ability to arm or fortify himself against a threat and with the way the path had been revealed, there was no chance he would have been taken by surprise. Yet the path led away from Downtown, out of the developed city and to an almost abandoned industrial park, somewhere near the airport yet purposefully outside the considerable astral security that surrounded the terminals and runways. Why would such an obviously wealthy pleasure seeker choose such a cold, industrial environment to spend the last few hours of his New Year’s Day? She swept down closer, her astral form about to enter the building when she heard a deep, male voice in her head.

“Hey Kallie, thanks for coming!” It said, a friendly welcome, like a kid greeting someone at a birthday party. “You can come on in on the astral if you want, but your friends are just pulling up outside with your body. Since our guest will be here in a moment, it may be better if you take physical form. Safer anyway.”

There was something about the voice that brooked no argument. It wasn’t giving an order, or offering a threat yet Kallie somehow knew if she went in to the hanger in astral form no harm would come to her. However, she also knew the voice was right. She couldn’t hope to survive a fight with the angel on the astral. She stopped her decent and looked around, spotting the van and her meat body just a block away. She quickly checked the area around her, saw no sign of the spirit and swooped back in to her body, her eyes opening to see Midnight caring for Avril and Malice driving purposefully.   
“Back” she said, sitting up.

“Who won?” Midnight asked, still focused on compressing Avril’s wound, staunching the blood flow. Avril was clasping her own hands together and breathing slowly, shallowly, as she drifted in and out of consciousness.  
“No one yet, the fight hasn’t happened. But I think Mr Johnson just dismissed me.”

Malice’s voice echoed back from the driver’s seat as he pulled the vehicle in to a parking bay outside of the massive white hanger, the sun slowly setting behind it, casting long shadows over the team. “Ok, 19B. This is us. Everyone capable of fighting out now.” He threw the door open as he spoke, jumping out and allowing the pistol to slide from his holster to his hand, its weight familiar and reassuring. He could have killed the bastard who brought this monster in to the world before the angel had been created and Nicola would still be alive. He had instead held his hand close and observed for too long. He would not allow himself to make that mistake again. If he had the chance to fire at a target, he wouldn’t hesitate even for an instant.

Behind him, Midnight and Kallie opened the rear doors and, carrying Avril between them, followed. Malice didn’t even look back as they strode across the concrete wasteland of the parking lot and on to the raised sidewalk. Malice walked directly over to the state of the art electrical lock and breathed a sigh of relief as he inputted the code. There was no way he would have been able to bypass this, the technology used to secure aircraft understandably extreme. Luckily, the code the Johnson had used worked and the electronic light flicked from red to green. Malice turned around and spotted the three women behind him.  
“No,” He said simply “No, she needs to stay in the van. We’re not going in there to board the 9:15 flight to Boston, she’ll get us all killed.”

“I’m not leaving her, she’ll bleed out in a few minutes if we don’t tend her wounds.” Midnight’s voice was direct, not expecting any contradiction.

“I thought you were a professional,” Malice exploded, his frustrations boiling over. “Why are you such a soft hearted idiot about this girl? We are not being paid to guard her, so if she dies we don’t lose out. If we die, we do lose out. The choice is simple, no?”

“I’m not doing this for kindness,” She snapped “I know you don’t understand magic and I’m trying to be patient with you. I don’t want to expose Avril to the creature or the conflict we are about to engage in any more than you do. But I also know her blood was used to create the damn thing and perhaps she can help the Johnson fight it. Maybe she won’t help, but I don’t know enough about this corrupted magic to be sure and I know that such connections are powerful on the astral. Do you want us to throw away what could be our best weapon before the fight?”

“Ok,” Malice said after a moment’s thought. It didn’t make sense to him that this useless woman could help them beat the monster that was coming, but as always he had to trust Midnight’s judgement on these matters. Magical matters were beyond him. “But if a fight breaks out, drop her and focus on doing every bit of damage you can. We cannot take half measures against this thing.”

He was talking to calm his own nerves as much as anything. He knew the other two would be more use than him when the fighting started. Still, taking charge calmed him, made his overwhelming fear that he would freeze again seem distant, less likely. He felt much more in control of himself for a moment until a loud roaring cry echoed off out of the hanger. A fight was in progress and Malice pushed rapidly through the door, pistol in hand, ready for a fight, confidence roaring through his veins as the targeting reticule swept through his vision. However, any sense of confidence disappeared the moment he stepped inside the cavernous space of the building. The huge internal void was brightly lit by giant neon banks hung from the thin roof some three stories above the ground and three quarters up the walls, the room was ringed by a steel gantry but otherwise the hanger was totally empty, a giant metal cage containing the two creatures locked in a fight for life.

The runners’ eyes locked on to the giant purple lizard in the middle of the floor and Immediately Kallie understood why Mr Johnson had chosen this location rather than downtown for this moment. Almost twenty feet long and perhaps ten feet tall at the head, the dragon looked magnificent. The neon lights reflected off its scales and the way it moved was almost hypnotic. Muscles shifted and wings beat with forces almost impossible for a human to comprehend. The thing weighed tonnes and yet it moved with a speed and grace that belied its size. It needed every bit of the agility as well as it wrestled with the monstrous angel from the sanctum.  
The runners stood, watching as twisted wings were shredded by claws the size of a troll’s leg and diamond hard scales rang with the powerful blows of a gore strewn sword, puddles of human blood and shards of bone forming beneath the shifting feet of the thing. The spirit was throwing blows against the dragon so quickly that they seemed to be little more than blurs and yet the beast angled itself so that each strike deflected harmlessly from its hide, probing for opportunities to tear and rip at the creature with its claws and teeth. Sheets of flame darted from the dragon’s nose and mouth as it exerted itself against the strength of the polluted creature, yet the furnace heat did no damage, the fight seemingly locked in a stalemate.

Malice was glad that the creature wasn’t paying attention to him, somehow without the creatures gaze focused on him the crippling fear he felt held less power. He gently cracked his neck to the side and flicked his wired reflexes mode up. The fight before him slowed down, yet even then the battle was beyond the capacity of his senses to follow. He grabbed his pistol and at the same time sensed a wave of power radiate from Kallie as she threw some form of spell at the bloody angel. The creature’s wings rippled and the crimson gore dripped in increased volume but it obviously didn’t do much damage. Kallie staggered, even that small magical effect causing her to almost fall to the ground. Following her work in the Sanctum, even channelling as much manner as this risked her losing consciousness. However, her attack did have one effect. The thing twisted its many-eyed head to assess the new threat and Malice felt the iron bonds of fear forming around his limbs once again, using all his will to fire off a single shot from the pistol that narrowly missed the things head as it moved deftly aside from the path of the round. Then, the gaze of the spirit overwhelmed his hatred, his training and his very will and again he froze to the spot, unable to even squeeze the trigger of the gun to fire a second round.

Still, the momentary shift in the angel’s focus they had provided proved to be crucial. The dragon drove its front limbs through the distracted creature with preternatural speed. One set of razor claws pierced the things legs while the others found purchase through its chest. Then, its enemy secure, the great lizard reared up on his hind legs and raising the impaled manifestation off the ground. It held it aloft easily as the angel let out soul crushing curses and beat its wings ineffectually. The dragon spoke, a roar not a word. The power, not the volume of that utterance caused the three runner’s visions to blur and they saw only flashes as the dragon drew its front limbs apart. The word split the creature’s twisted astral form in to a million shards as the strength of the creature ripped the thing’s physical form apart. Utterly destroyed, the angel collapsed in to a formless pile of bone and blood upon the floor. The death scream of the thing echoed on both the astral and physical planes, Midnight and Kallie collapsed to their knees as the pain of it washed over them like a tsunami.

Silence and the metallic smell of blood hung in the air as Malice lowered and holstered his pistol, eyes locked warily on the victorious dragon. Kallie and Midnight slowly got back to their feet, blood dripping from their ears from the magical feedback blending in with the gore already coating their clothing. Before them, the dragon turned towards them and instinctively the Runners drew back. There was an ancestral memory of prey faced with an unstoppable, ravenous predator sending fear rushing along their limbs. The great lizard, claws and fangs and limbs still dripping viscera sensed the impact his natural form was having on them and gradually his body shifted. In moments, instead of the giant purple beast, his place was filled by a familiar, well-dressed handsome man with a self-assured smile casually wiping blood from his finger nails with a silk handkerchief. His eyes fell on Avril and his smile fell, his face a picture of dejection. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could another voice echoed down from the gantry above them.

“Damon,” The voice said, echoing cavernously around the empty space, “We have been watching you.”

Instantly, Malice’s gun was back in his hand and Kallie and Midnight were facing the new potential threat, blood dripping down their faces forgotten. The battered team prepared to fight a new threat, knowing their odds of success were small as cut up and exhausted as they were. Malice could make out three figures above them, all dressed in uniform black with splashes of orange on jacket patches or a scarf or bandana. This situation was almost as bad as the one they had just narrowly escaped, he knew. The new enemy had the high ground and perfect lines of sight. At least one had an automatic weapon trained on him and as skilled as he was with his predator, he was outgunned. These were professionals and they had got the drop on them all, so distracted were they by the fight between the spirit and the dragon. He remembered the bug planted in the Johnson’s room what felt like a lifetime ago and he suddenly realised they had forgotten this secondary threat. He cursed himself for another stupid error. He had a lot to learn from this run if he survived long enough to reflect on it anyway.

Mr Johnson spoke from behind them, seemingly bored at the interruption. His voice suggested it was the most predictable thing in the world. “I know.”

The voice from above continued, seemingly totally unconcerned with the attention of the Dragon focused on them. “Then I suspect you know who we work for and that we mean you no harm. We have a gift by way of proof.” The voice was feminine to Malice’s ear and belonged to the one at the back, the figure seemingly unarmed. A mage he guessed, and hoped Kallie had noticed that as well. He could only hope she had strength enough to prepare defences against her in case they were needed. His first bullet would spill the mage’s brains but he had no doubt she would get at least one spell off if it came to that and one would be more than enough to kill him if she chose.

One of the other people on the gantry removed a square wicker box from his back and attached it to the rail of the gantry with a climbing rope, before lowering it slowly down to the floor. Malice immediately backed away slightly, worried the thing may contain some sort of awakened animal, the woven form of the thing an unusual choice. It would allow whatever was inside to breathe so an animal seemed the most likely explanation of the odd brown item. The team above noticed his fear and a male voice said simply “It’s a gift, nothing to fear. Open it.”

The Johnson’s voice from behind the runners offered confirmation. “It’s ok, I think I know what we have here. You can open it.”

Malice heard the instruction and went to the hamper, removing it from the rope and dragging it away from the gantry, determined to keep the enemy in sight as he slowly untied the ribbon holding the lid closed. After a brief pause, he pushed the lid wide and aimed his pistol in to the darkness of the interior, prepared to fire a round in to anything that moved in there. Instead, he had to look twice at what it contained. A bemused smirk crossed his lips. It couldn’t possibly be what it looked like, so he risked a second look inside, cyber eyes running through the whole spectrum determined to find the catch. Every glance simply confirmed his first impression.

Inside the wicker box was nothing but a selection of loaves of bread, sealed jugs of water and fruit juice, plastic containers of fresh fruit, prepared vegetables and even a pat of golden butter. Malice shook his head, confused as he picked up two of the loaves to show the team, their homely smell drifting to his nose. The box was a picnic hamper, filled with real food, fresh, actual clean food. A half dozen loaves of bread dominated the offering, but everything you could want for a traditional lunch had been provided. Such quality fayre was rare downtown and practically unknown in the barrens so it certainly had a value. Even still, the hamper seemed like an odd choice of gift to bring to a situation like this.

“It’s a fragging picnic” he eventually said to Kallie and Midnight, “Why would anyone send us a picnic?” The second question was asked of himself as much as it was directed to Mr Johnson and the new arrivals.  
The female voice from above answered. “Not just a picnic, the fruits of the Shasta forest, blessed by our Shaman. The Orange Queen sends her regards to her wayward charge and his agents. She also offers her humble advice for their fight against this corruption, though that can wait a short while. For now, eat and be healed.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings for discussion of violence, but nothing graphic
> 
> quite a dialogue focused chapter but i hope you enjoy!

Damon watched as the runners he’d hired looked hesitantly between him, the wicker basket, and the group sent by Hestaby. Evidently exhausted by their adventures, and perhaps realising they were out of their depth, Malice went and took a seat on the floor, waiting for the others to join him. Kallie and Midnight went to step forward, but at the last second looked down towards Avril who’d been left on the floor when they had joined in the fight against the spirit. 

“I shall take care of her, you needn’t worry.” Damon said, flashing a smile. The mage still seemed unsure, but eventually sat across from Malice, Midnight sitting directly next to her. They steadfastly refused to touch anything until the other team came over to them, which Damon couldn’t help but find amusing; unlike some of his kind, he did not take pleasure in the discomfort of humans, but there was humour to be found in watching them tip-toe around each other and himself, evidently waiting for some kind of attack. It would be convoluted to hire them and put them through the motions, only to kill them with some poisoned juice. No, they were in no danger here, and it wasn’t as though he was about to suddenly transform and eat them although they couldn’t have known that.

When the others finally made their way down from the gantry, he couldn’t say he was surprised by what he saw. A team of three, one white human female and two males, a black human and a white elf. They wore the colours of the Shasta, black gear with orange woven into the fabric. The woman, who had ginger hair braided tightly around her head, took a seat next to Malice, who seemed extremely uncomfortable with this development. The two men sat on her left, the elf immediately beside her looking out with milky, clouded eyes and vines tattooed up the side of his neck, only just visible above his shirt and from behind his shoulder length black hair. The human man kept his eyes on Damon's team, seemingly calm but in fact intensely alert. His hair was cropped close to his head, and he had the most piercing green eyes that looked out among the rest of them. The groups remained unmoving, unsure of the right etiquette for this situation. 

“Please do feast and introduce yourselves,” Damon spoke, watching as Hestaby’s team refused to touch anything, “and that goes for all of you.”

“We mustn’t,” the human woman replied, “the Queen intended these as a gift.”

“If it is a gift for me and my agents then surely I can decide to share if I wish it. Please, enjoy yourselves, a respite from this trouble is much needed, and you’ve travelled far. I insist that you eat.”

The team looked between each other, all seeming to agree that if another dragon decreed it then they were unlikely to get into trouble. “My name is Kerra,” said the woman, “and this is Harpa and Lucas.” She gestured to first the elf and then the human. “You’ll have to forgive Harpa, he doesn’t speak, but he can hear you well enough, even if he cannot see you.” 

“I’m Midnight,” Midnight greeted, “this is Kallie and Malice. I presume it was your handiwork we found in the hotel.”

Kerra gave her a knowing glance. “I presume it was you who destroyed it.”

“Please,” Damon interrupted with a knowing smile, “no more business talk for now. We can return to that later.”

Their conversation did help make some sense of this situation, he had to admit. Hestaby must have known his life was being targeted if she’d sent runners to watch him. Perhaps it was time he sent her a message, after all it had been a long while since their last contact. And if she had information about who felt the need to go after him, he would appreciate a heads up on exactly where she was getting that information from. Not that he was in any real danger of course, if the situation was that dire then she would have done more than sent a small group of her people to watch him. Still, great form blood spirits chasing him down was not a good sign. Things had been relatively quiet in Seattle for a while now, and he could only hope that this was a one off occurrence and not a sign of worse to come.

Malice took the first bite of food, evidently tired of waiting. The visible discomfort and irritation that had been so plainly etched into the man’s face melted away as he chewed on a mouthful of bread. Damon held back a chuckle, knowing just how well the food tasted, having seen this reaction many times before - Hestaby had always been good with her gifts. Her team also seemed relieved to be eating such goods, though it was likely they’d already tasted them before. He watched as Kallie took a bite from a fresh peach, savouring the taste and then noticing how the wounds on her hands slowly knitted themselves back together. The tense atmosphere that had surrounded them all slowly faded away, and Damon, content that the others weren’t about to scrap with each other, finally turned his attention to the young woman laid carelessly on the floor. It was a shame to see her this way, so hollow and pale, when she’d been so joyous and full of life less than twelve hours ago. It took little effort to weave the mana around them to stabilise her, letting her injuries slowly seal up and begin to heal. Regrettably however she’d had part of her soul ripped out of her, and as much as he could heal her, he couldn’t reverse some of the permanent damage that had been done to her. Whatever they’d done to her insides was permanent. Should the poor woman ever desire to continue her bloodline she would find that such an act was no longer possible. Damon had always been kind to his bedmates, there had never been a misunderstanding of what their time together meant, they enjoyed each other's company and left it at that; he was not cruel, and it was disheartening to see such a thing happen to Avril, who had only been looking for fun as he had. It would take her some time to come round now that she was healed, and whilst he waited he figured it was about time he found out why Avril had been so violently injured, and why he’d had to dispose of a blood spirit not ten minutes ago.

“I trust that the food is pleasant for you all?” Damon began, watching as they all nodded. “Excellent. Now, after all that we’ve seen I think it’s only right that someone explains to me exactly what has happened.”

He watched as Midnight eyed Avril, still concerned that she hadn’t opened her eyes. “She’ll wake up soon.” Damon explained, “Though I would like to know how she received such awful wounds, since she certainly wasn’t sporting them when she left me this morning.”

“They took her as she left the hotel,” Midnight explained, whilst the others watched her intently. No doubt watching whether to see if she’d tell the whole truth or not, but Damon could sense their fear, now that they’d seen his true form. He doubted they’d outright lie right to his face knowing what he was capable of. “We tracked her down to a Night Hunters location, where she’d been examined by a doctor. They were prepping her for a blood ritual, although we didn’t know that at the time. We ended up being taken to a church where they performed the ritual. Regrettably we were unable to stop the spirit in time from reaching you, for which we apologise.”

Damon hummed to himself. Truly he wasn’t all that surprised to hear of Night Hunters being linked to blood magic - despite their desire to destroy all things metahuman, and with their general distrust of magic, they seemed uncivil and hypocritical enough to try to use such a thing for themselves. And even though he’d destroyed their spirit, they’d still managed to conjure a powerful one, by metahuman standards, that was something worth looking into. Still, something was off about Midnight’s story. He could understand why they’d take Avril, for some material link to him that much was obvious. But why such horrific violence to her? Even for a group with Humanis links this seemed a little extreme, especially if they needed her for a ritual, it would have been better not to kill her.

“You said there was a doctor. What of them? I presume you killed the mage who summoned the creature in the first place.”

“Guy who summoned it was a priest called Martinez. Unfortunately he got away. The girl would have died had we chased him.” Malice spoke up. Damon could sense the bitterness within him that he did not manage to secure the kill. It was a shame indeed, someone of that power could not be allowed to be free roaming around Seattle. 

“The doctor was killed as part of the ritual,” Kallie spoke up, “she’s no longer a problem.”

“I see.” Damon said, and noticed the three of them share a worried glance. It seemed there was something they were neglecting to say.

“I have healed her, but regrettably some of the damage inflicted will be permanent. I would like to know why they hurt her this way, since I’m sure you know the answer.” He flashed them a smile, making sure all of his teeth were on display. He might have been in human form at the moment, but they shivered as though he wasn’t. It would be unwise for them to hide such information from him, especially after the kindness that had been shown to them. “Since you stormed in here proclaiming to know exactly who I was I can only presume they told you. And they must have said something to keep you this quiet, but I suggest you start speaking up now, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“They… Look, I took a look at her astral signature and there was something different there. They were… We didn’t necessarily believe them but they said that you’d uh, you’d…”

A blush stained Kallie’s cheeks and Damon waited patiently for her to finish so he could work out what had gotten her so embarrassed, but Malice beat her to the punchline.

“They said you got her pregnant. On purpose. That it was a thing dragons did.”

The hangar felt exponentially big in the silence that followed. Hestaby’s group seemed to be completely shocked with what Malice had said. Damon almost found it laughable. So that was what they thought of him? It was rather insulting, more so that they clearly believed enough of it to actively hide this information from him, information that had nearly gotten Avril killed. No doubt they’d force fed her these lies too, he can’t imagine her going through with this willingly after being kidnapped. Poor thing, being treated in such a way. It was about time he set the record straight, since he could clearly tell they wanted some answers, not knowing who to believe at this point.

“I can assure you that I did not get her pregnant. Evidently you’ve heard tales of what dragons are capable of, but do you really think this is how we choose to replicate? Don’t be ridiculous. We take this sort of thing quite seriously, and there’s an agreement between both parties.”

“Her aura…” Kallie whispered, evidently still unbelieving. Frankly, Damon was disappointed he was going to have to explain this.

“I am an incredibly magical and powerful creature,” he explained slowly, looking her dead in the eye, “what you saw was the remains of our night together. That is all. It most certainly wasn’t a child.”

Kallie looked away, clearly mortified along with the others. What a disaster this all was, Damon thought. He’d hired them for a single job and they’d made such a mess of it. Still, they had allowed him to enjoy his night without any hassle, even if it had all fallen apart afterwards, he had to give them some credit at least. But there was a loose blood mage running about and that wasn’t going to do him any good if left unchecked. Something was nagging in the back of his mind as he thought about it, but before he could dwell properly on it he felt Avril stir against him, and his attention was immediately on her, wanting to calm the situation before it had a chance to escalate.

She slowly blinked as she woke up, confusion evident as she opened her eyes to the hangar, at first not noticing who she was leant against. Her eyes fell on Hestaby’s people first, as she looked at them with confusion. Then her gaze flickered to the runners he’d hired, who were still regrettably covered in blood and looking rather ghastly. Recognition settled in her features as the previous events of the day seemed to come back to her, and Damon could feel her panic start to spike.

“It’s okay,” Midnight called out to her, “you’re safe here. Nobody’s going to hurt you.”

Avril nodded at her, eyes wide and clearly still a little distrustful, not that Damon blamed her. At last she seemed to realise that she was propped against someone, and turned to look at him. Immediately he noticed how she froze, eyes wide with horror. Coaxing the mana around him he let a calming atmosphere settle over her as he took her hand and stroked the back of it gently. “You’re alright Avril, I don’t wish to cause you any harm. I’ve heard about what happened to you, and I am deeply sorry you’ve been put through such a thing.”

“You…” She whispered weakly, the spell working to calm her panic but not enough to stop the shock that she was seeing him again. He too thought they wouldn’t cross paths again after last night, but unfortunately that was not to be.

“I know you’ve heard many things about me today. I am going to clear some of those up. First of all, what happened between us last night was not a part of some hidden agenda of mine to have you bear a child. I was looking for good company, and you caught my eye, I was not out to do anything against your will. I am sorry for what they’ve put you through to make you think otherwise.”

She trembled gently in his arms, eyes glassy with tears but with some hidden strength she managed to hold them back, whether through embarrassment or some desperate need to keep her composure in front of all these strangers he couldn’t tell, but he admired her regardless. He doubted she’d ever fully recover from today, and he already knew the choice he was going to offer her, but not before she knew the whole truth.

“It is in my best interest however to tell you that they were correct about one thing. I am a dragon. But my previous statement still stands, I was not looking to use you as a host, or anything of the sort. I was just looking for a good time, as I’m sure you were too.”

Avril looked down at herself, at the bloody stained robe she wore and Damon could feel her private sorrow at everything she’d lost today. She didn’t say anything more out loud, but it was clear she wanted to know what the damage to her was. Given how shakey she was currently, Damon thought that information was best left for later down the line; she’d only just woken up after all. Leaning towards the picnic he grabbed a small pot of blueberries, along with some juice.

“Here,” he gestured towards the food, “have some of this, I assure you it will make you feel better.”

Too exhausted to do much else, Avril silently ate the food, whilst trying to ignore the gazes of those around her. The others, sensing her nerves, continued to pick away at the last bits of food, waiting for Damon’s cue to leave or divulge more information. He let them sit in anticipation, meanwhile he let his mind drift back to the topic of the blood mage. There was definitely something important his mind was telling him, something extremely pressing about blood mages that he ought to remember. It wasn’t until he looked back at Hestaby’s followers that it suddenly came back to him, and along with it a potential solution to this mess. The more he dwelled on it, the more it became clear that it would hold something to interest every person currently in the hangar. Why not make a game of it? It was only right to get some form of entertainment out of this mess, and what better way to start the New Year than with a hunt?

“So you say the blood mage behind all of this escaped, yes?” Damon finally spoke, once Avril was finished eating.

Kallie nodded, evidently ashamed that they’d not been able to both save Avril and dispose of the mage. Given the amount of gore on her, Damon supposed she must have been fighting the spirit before it disappeared to try find himself.

“I see.” He said, looking ponderous. The others around the basket seemed to catch on that he was mulling something over, and sat up with a sudden interest. Good, he thought, now he had their full attention.

“I presume most of you here know of Dunkelzahn?” 

A moment of nodding passed around the circle. This was no surprise, but it was best to check with these things.

“Then I’m sure some of you are aware of the will he left behind.” 

This time he was met with less understanding. This was not an issue, in fact this was a perfect set up to the main event.

“If you’re not aware The Draco Foundation, left behind in his name, is currently offering an extremely high bounty for the capture of blood mage, alive, and delivered to them.”

The two groups looked at each other. Whilst he was sure his own hired team were mainly interested from a monetary point of view, he knew Hestaby’s group would want to eradicate someone who’d been so toxic to astral space. No doubt they would be extremely willing to do anything in their Queen’s name too, before the money was even considered. Malice in particular seemed to perk up at this information, his utter contempt for what had happened clearly second place to the man’s need for financial aid. Damon was most interested to see how this would play out.

“I think it’s safe to say that you have not had the simplest of days today. Despite all the complications I will still pay you what we agreed on when I hired you. However… I do believe everyone here would like to see some sort of justice brought to this mage, for a variety of different reasons. So, why not make a race of it? I do believe the bounty is sitting at oh… one million nuyen.”

That definitely stirred interest. Malice seemed to mull over the concept in his head, glancing at the other team to see how invested they were. Outwardly they gave away little that Malice could pick up on, but Damon knew how far the loyalty to Hestaby ran amongst her people, and he had no doubt of their eagerness to complete this task.

“You want after him too right? What’s to stop you getting ahead of us? We’ve established you have a lot more at your disposal than we do, it hardly seems fair.” Malice pointed out. Admittedly, he did have a point, and it wouldn’t be fun to win so fast.

“Indeed,” Damon replied, “very well, I would be willing to give you all a three hour head start. Is that reasonable enough for you?”

Malice grunted in affirment. Kallie and Midnight looked to each other, not quite sure whether this was a good idea, but with the bounty as high as it was, it wasn’t something they could say no to. Avril watched the others with worry, not used to being around people such as this, whilst another part of her feared at the man who’d done this to her being out there and able to do it again. Damon tucked a finger under her chin and gently tilted her face towards his.

“You could join in too, if you wanted. This man hurt you terribly, you could hurt him back.”

Avril stammered, evidently the thought having not occurred to her. Perhaps it was reckless of him to suggest it, but after all she’d been through he thought it was about time she was allowed a chance to take her own vengeance.

“If you really want, I can make it all go away. You could go to sleep, wake up back in your apartment, and you wouldn’t remember any of this. You’d presume you had a fun New Year, too drunk to remember any of it, and you’d never recall what has happened. Or, you can find the man who hurt you, and you can make him regret it. If you wish for the first, then I can make that happen. If you wish for the second, the opportunity is right in front of you.”

She seemed to mull this over, a difficult decision as it was. Damon wouldn’t have been surprised if she went for the first option, but privately he hoped that she’d pick the second, the blood mage wouldn’t ever know what had hit him. For a few minutes she remained silent, and he let her ponder, watching as the two groups eyed each other, trying to spot any weaknesses within their ranks. No doubt they were conversing through their subvocal channels, but whatever their plans were was of little consequence to Damon. Three hours was enough leeway, but if they hadn’t found him by then, then Damon would have no trouble coming in and sweeping things up.

Eventually Avril looked back at him with something hard set in her eyes. “I’ll go with them.” She said, her voice small but resolute. Damon couldn’t help but smile. “As you wish it.” He said, allowing her to stand up. She walked back over to Midnight and Kallie, who seemed surprised that she wanted to join them. Malice seemed a little disgruntled, but Damon doubted he’d voice any objections in front of him, not after the earlier display.

“Very well then. A three hour head start, I shall leave you all to it. Do try not to kill each other on the way to the mage, this is supposed to be a light competition after all.”

Hestaby’s followers were already on their way out of the hangar, knowing they had some catching up to do already since the other team had seen the man’s astral signature and would have an easier time tracking him down. Damon’s own hires looked back at him one last time, a mixture of emotions passing through them, before Malice started to lead the group out, not sparing Avril a second glance. Damon watched them leave, chuckling to himself and clearing up the remains of Hestaby’s gift, watching the sun go down as he set a timer for three hours and counting...  



	15. Chapter 15

The Argentum was packed as it always was on a holiday weekend. Although it was not yet 9pm, people were already gathered three deep at the bar, the two young orks and a single human behind it rushing around to serve the thirsty crowd who pushed forward, beers and shots of hard liquor flying out like prohibition was about to return at any second. The synthetic dance beats pumped through the stereo system washed over a dance floor packed with gyrating people and washed in neon purple and green light, the bulbs strobing and flickering in time with the music. Around the edge of the room a number of booths were stuffed with working girls and high rollers whose hands and eyes systematically found every inch of exposed flesh. Two troll barmen stood by the entrance, their eyes on the crowd as much as the queue of people waiting to get in, a line of people stood beneath a royal purple awning with metallic highlights that reflected the moonlight as puddles on the floor. It was early on a weekday night and normally the place would be fairly quiet but for some one night of revelry was not enough to welcome in 2062 and the club was more than happy to provide a second debauch.

Four figures walked along the sidewalk towards the bar, seemingly unware of the gentle rain washing down over them. Malice strode alone in front, lost in his thoughts. Behind him, Midnight, Kallie and Avril walked together, making empty small talk about the cold and the night and the well-dressed people in the queue. “You sure we can get in?” Avril asked Midnight as they walked passed the long line of eager customers hoping to be let inside the Argentum. She was used to having VIP passes when she hit clubs, and her three new friends didn’t seem like the kind who made guest lists. Malice, having overheard the question, turned around and gave her a smile. He looked back without breaking stride, his red eyes glowing in the shade of his hood. Beside her, Midnight simply nodded, her confidence obvious in the gesture, words unnecessary. Midnight had adopted the image of a human female with long, flame-red hair and freckles, young and pretty enough to fit in with the crowd at the Argentum but not so much so that she would draw unwanted attention. Avril still struggled to accept that the stranger walking beside her was the same woman she had been with when they had met the dragon, the change of image too much to rationalise, but she still trusted Midnight more than anyone else in the team, whatever image she wore, so stayed close beside her. 

The team had driven straight here from the aircraft hangar where they had spoken with the dragon. No one had said where they were going, no discussion had occurred, it had just been assumed between the three runners that this would be the first stop after leaving the hanger. They had stopped only once on the journey, a brief pause at the new Cross Retail Archology where they had snuck in to the private gym washroom via an unlocked ground floor window so that the team could shower off the dried blood from their magically-refreshed skin. Midnight had taken the opportunity to visit the Beaux Designs outlet inside the archology under a false image and purchased all three women new outfits to help them blend in at the Argentum. She had offered to purchase Malice something too, but the look he had given her made it clear the battered leather hooded coat was not going anywhere. He had simply swilled the blood off and put the outfit back on wet. What Midnight told the group she had paid for the outfits made both Kallie and Avril wince, Kallie because she rarely spent so much on anything and Avril because the whole of her outfit cost less than one of her usual choice of casual shoes. Still, when they had left the mall, they looked a lot better, bloody outfits left in the trash for some poor janitor to discover later that day.

They had left their weapons in the van, knowing they were not welcome in the club. Avril felt better that wherever they were headed, the team didn’t feel the need to go armed. It would be a lie to say she felt safe, but she did feel safer than she had all day. Still, she struggled to avoid comment when they walked passed the brightly lit front entrance to the club and to a side entrance where a dwarf with obvious cyber-eyes glowing neon green through the misty night scanned them for weapons. The bouncer made no attempt to hide the submachine gun at his hip or stop his right hand resting on a panic button should he feel back up was called for. Malice gave him a familiar smile.

“Hey, the boss in tonight?”

“Yeah, of course. Always is.” The dwarf replied flatly. “You want a secure booth as usual, I presume?”

Malice nodded. “Yep, my three friends and I sure would appreciate it if we could. We don’t have reservations but we do have funds. If the boss could call by in a few minutes, I’d appreciate that as well. I could use a word and she may find the discussion rewarding.” He offered his credstick as he spoke to reinforce the fact he was able to pay for the privacy he requested.

The dwarf looked at a datapad to his left and then scanned the stick, taking payment. “Ok, booth 7 is yours for the next hour.”

Malice looked at the balance remaining on the datastick, the figure five hundred lower than it had been moments before. “Really? That was double what I know people usually have to pay if they are not here at the boss’ request.”

The dwarf nodded. “Yeah, we’re busy tonight and as you said, you don’t have a reservation. Besides, word has reached the boss that you just finished a job so we know you can afford it.” He smiled and waved them through.

Beyond the door was a long corridor lit with an eerie, weak red light that cast odd shadows. To the right were a series of doors, each opening in to a booth inside the Argentum. By the time Malice opened the door marked with a number 7 in neon light tubes, he saw one of the trolls leading off a drunk couple who had been sitting in the spot until Malice had purchased it from them. He allowed himself a private grin at that level of service. There were few perks in being a Shadowrunner, but this was one of them. He didn’t like the club, crowds were not his thing, but the Argentum was an exception. It was impossible not to appreciate the privacy offered in the booths, each containing a built in electronic counter-surveillance unit and set in an environment quiet enough to make yourself understood to those around you but too loud to be heard even two feet away. If he had to talk strategy or plan a job with people he didn’t trust enough to bring to one of his own hideouts, this was the best option in the whole city as far as he was concerned. He suspected Kallie and Midnight felt the same and Avril’s opinion on the matter simply didn’t matter.

As they took their seats, Avril was looking over the crowd, seeing the riot of colours and people all moving together. Razor boys dressed all in black with obvious chrome implanted in their skin danced with neo-punk girls with toxic green mohawks. A pair of young male Orks were making out against the far wall next to a human girl, 20 at the oldest, whose ears and face were a riot of metal piercings connected by a spiders-web of green ink. The pounding music she recognised but beyond that this crowd was unlike anything she had experienced before in her privileged life. Even the themed Barrens bar she had visited in the archology a year back hadn’t prepared her at all for this mass of unrefined humanity.

“Are all these people shadowrunners?” She asked Kallie, who laughed for a good thirty seconds before she recovered enough to answer. 

“How many Shadowrunners do you think this city needs?” Kallie looked at Avril, realising how little she really understood about this world she had found herself in. She almost felt pity until she remembered the dragon gave her a chance to get out of this mess and she had refused it. “People like us three are rare. If there are 200 in Seattle then I would be surprised. The rest of the people in here are just SINless folks who have a small amount of money to spare on a good time. Maybe they deal drugs or chips or smuggle them in to the city, maybe they pick pockets or offer protection from gangs or other urban predators for a cost or perhaps they work for the syndicates or run basic cyber-crime. Who knows, but they make money however they can and it probably isn’t via legal means. Still, that makes them your common garden variety criminals, not Shadowrunners. Shadowrunners are the best of the best, true professionals.”

Avril instinctively pushed herself deep in to the corner of the booth, the idea of being in a room with so many varieties of criminal making her feel deeply afraid. She was suddenly glad she didn’t have her money or her trid phone or her jewellery or frankly anything else worth stealing or killing her to steal. She looked at the table determined not to make eye contact with anyone, her body language closed. Midnight noticed her discomfort.

“Don’t worry,” she said, trying to offer reassurance after Kallie’s blunt explanation. “The Argentum is as safe a place as any you have been in for a party, even in your corporate havens. The security here is first rate. No one causes trouble at the Argentum and lives and everyone who comes here knows it. You can relax, no harm will come to you here.”

“Yeah,” Malice offered, the door to the booth closed and the electronic privacy device turned on now, “The harm comes later. You asked to be here and the dragon allowed it so you are. Still, don’t think I want you here and I certainly won’t tolerate you slowing us down. A million nuyen may not mean much to you but to me it is a life changing windfall. You may not have noticed during your guided tour of the underworld, but we are already using valuable time. I suggest we try very hard not to waste a second more teaching you what the real world is like. We three are professionals and we need to talk business. I suggest you shut up, listen and stay out of the way. That way you may even get out of this thing alive and even conscious if you are lucky.”

Avril nodded slowly, suddenly less reassured she had made the right choice joining the team. She wanted to see the priest dead though, the image of what he did to her, the memory of the pain and agony he had caused her and the sense of the evil that dripped from the thing he had created causing hate to well in her heart. That motivated her, and she felt her fear subside. She nodded to Malice again, more certainly now, her anger at being dismissed overwhelmed only by the slightly pathetic fact that she knew he was right. Meanwhile Midnight spoke up.

“Alright, let’s work this out. We are hunting Father Martinez, a crazy Priest who can probably use magic and has a congregation of racist bastards who will happily kill us if they see us. This priest can use blood magic of pretty high power. There is another team of skilled professionals after him and they have already bested us both times our paths have crossed. Oh, and a dragon is involved as well. Still, we get a bounty of a million nuyen if we bring him in alive and a lot less if we kill him. Did I miss anything important?” She sat back, deep in thought as her wife took over.

“It isn’t as bad as that though. We have some essential advantages. For instance, we know where he lives and we know he has a warded Sanctum. You are right that the people who attend his church will kill at least two us just for being elves when we walk in and they probably hate all four of us because Martinez undoubted blamed us all for Nicola’s death. We know he uses blood magic, but he probably doesn’t know what that means and that may limit what he can do with his power. Sure, he can summon blood spirits if we give him time and basically cast unlimited spells so long as he has a source of blood to draw on, but he may require willing sources depending on what he believes about the miracles he thinks he can perform.”

Malice picked up on a comment and felt his hopes of success sink. “Hold up, he can just create more of those damned angels whenever he wants? I mean, one was more than we can handle.”

Kallie shook her head. “No, no. That was a more powerful spirit than most. He’d need hours to prepare such a summoning. The angels he can summon quickly will be far weaker. And by quicker, it may take him an hour or two to complete the ritual for each one. As long as we keep the numbers of church goers around low, I think I can deal with his magic with a bit of planning.”

The discussion paused as one of the Orks behind the bar came over with a beer for Malice, and three rocks glasses full of various coloured liquids. The discussion paused for a few moments while he placed a whiskey before Midnight and a darker liquor in front of Kallie. Finally, Avril was given a glass of some clear substance and the waiter left. Midnight allowed herself a second to sip her whiskey, smiled appreciatively and picked the discussion back up once again.

“So, I think we have to accept that the front door is out. We drive in to that neighbourhood and they’ll be on alert immediately, they know the van from earlier. If Martinez knows we are coming and has access to his parishioners, we’ll have a blood bath on our hands either because we have to kill the locals to get to Martinez or he cuts them up to power his magic. Neither seems good.”  
Malice nodded in agreement. “True, but we know the place has a back door. The exit that the priest took out of the Sanctum must have led out to the sewers or something like that beneath ground. If he can get out that way, it sort of stands to reason we can get in given some effort.”

Avril struggled to deal with the fact the people around her were calmly discussing the possibility of a violent death or the need for murder. She tried to ignore it as much as possible and so picked up her glass and smelled the liquid within, drawing back at the strength of the alcohol inside for a second. Then she shrugged, raised it to her lips and necked the double shot, the familiar burning sensation in her throat calming her nerves as the conversation continued.

“We need to consider if it is a reasonably assumption that we can bring him in alive.” Midnight said “A quarter million each is a lot of money but we can’t spend it if we are dead. Maybe it is better to go for the smaller reward and kill him and claim the smaller reward. It may be safer for all of us.” She said nothing, but her gaze drifted to Avril as she talked about keeping people safe, the implication clear.

Kallie had closed her eyes as she took the first sip of her rum and so missed the look altogether but opened them as she spoke, looking straight at Midnight. “I know taking on such a magician puts me at risk, but don’t worry too much. I think between us we can subdue him. If I focus on defensive magic, you three can knock him out with mundane techniques. The issue is how we keep him subdued if we do manage to take him down. Transport to the Draco Foundation could take over an hour depending where in the city we find his twisted hoop. If he can even so much as see, he can cast and we could find outselves dead inside the van even after we win. We need a handling plan.”

Malice looked at them both, a long swig on his beer making him smile. The Argentum always provided the best local brews and this one was no different, going down light and easy. “You may not have noticed, but subdue is something I tend to do on a more permanent basis anyway. I’ll do what I can but, you know, if things get crazy, I’m not taking any chances. Even if we only get a few thousand for his corpse, I’ll take it over eating whatever magical surprise he plans to feed me.”

“Don’t worry” Midnight said, “I’m of your mind on this. If it comes down to one of us dying to keep him alive, we don’t make that trade. We all come back with a corpse rather than three of us with a massive cheque. Still, if Kallie says we can take him alive, I believe her. We can plan for the worst and be prepared to kill him, but if we can capture him with breath still in his lungs, that’s a major bonus.”

Kallie took a second swig of her rum. “So, in an ideal world, what do we need for either scenario?”

Malice’s tactical brain swung in to action, planning it out, visualising what was needed. “Non-lethal weaponry if we are trying for a take-down rather than a hit. I’d need gel rounds for both my pistol and my submachine gun though I will be carrying my standard ammo as well, just in case. I’m going in fully loaded this time. I’m not saying I don’t trust you Kallie, understand that. I am just taking no chances. I’d recommend enclosed suits and breathers if we are going in through the sewers as well. I’ve spent time down there before and they are essential for the smell as well as to prevent the risk of catching a disease. Bindings for the mage if we can bring him in alive as well of course. If we can get those things, we’d be well set.”

Kallie nodded. “We’ve got the restraints, no worries there.” She felt the way Avril looked at her and Midnight as she said that and was reminded again of how little she understood about this world. She was getting the wrong idea completely and she decided to spare her partner’s blushes. “What? We regularly do extraction work on unwilling people so they get a lot of use. On a personal level, I would feel a lot better for some elemental back up if we are going to run up against spirits. Some summoning materials would be helpful with that. Oh, and a mage mask if we can get our hands on one. Be a lot safer if we can lock the bastard down properly if he is alive when we get our hands on him.”

Midnight nodded, “Ok, sounds like we have the beginnings of a workable plan here.”

Avril felt the bravery that came with alcohol consumption rising within her and started to speak out. “Look,” She started “I know you are professionals, but aren’t we in a race here? Shouldn’t we just rush in there and get the priest before the other team or the damn dragon get him? Won’t going on a little shopping trip when the stores open in the morning waste valuable hours?”

Malice growled under his breath and was about to explain exactly why Avril should stay quiet but Midnight gave him a look that made him wither back in to his seat. He raised his bottle to his lips, letting Midnight speak instead.

“We are racing,” She said “But that doesn’t mean we rush in and get killed. We have a big advantage because we know at least roughly where the target is. Malice has seen him and Kallie knows his astral form. It’ll take the others at least a couple of hours just to find the facts about the target we already have. That means we can at least take a little time and be sensible. In our line of work, your first mistake gets you killed, so caution is essential. When we do something, we try to do it right.”

Kallie nodded general agreement with her wife, but added “Yup, we hold the upper hand here. Except for the dragon of course, that’s the wild card in all of this. That thing may be able to find the source of the Spirit immediately. Of course, there is not much we could do about it anyway if that is true. I think we just have to accept that it’s a dragon so we can’t predict what it’ll do.”  
Avril nodded, understanding the point being made. “Ok, then can I borrow a gun or something? I really don’t want to walk in to danger unarmed again. The whole harmless bystander thing hasn’t worked out so well for me for far. As you well know.”

Midnight and Kallie both looked at Malice, the only team member who used firearms.

“With all due respect, if you don’t know how to shoot, giving you a gun is more likely to kill us than our target. A panicking civilian behind me with a loaded weapon is probably as dangerous as the damn priest.”  
Avril leaned in, fed up of his dismissive tone. “Listen mister, I know you can kill me and it is obvious that you think I am useless. But I was taught to shoot by my Dad’s friend when I was eight and I have been to the range every week since then. My Mom insisted I learn because she didn’t want me to be an easy target alone in my dorm when I went to college. I can load and shoot a pistol pretty well.”

Malice sat back, laughing warmly and shifting his right cybereye light to grey for a moment, his version of winking. “So, you have spirit at least, even if you lack common sense. Alright, you can have a gun and we should probably get you an armoured coat or something. It won’t stop a bullet or anything, but they do block ricochets pretty well and may just keep you alive if you have the sense to find cover when the drek hits the air conditioner.”

Avril sat back as Malice’s eye returned back to red, the unblinking glare locked on her but his gaze somehow softened now. “You’ll lend me a gun of yours?” She said “I’m honoured.”  
“Not what I said” he replied, “I said we’ll get you a gun. You’ll see.”

Midnight spoke up, her whiskey finished now. “Ok, so we have a plan. Only problem I can see is that there are hundreds of miles of sewer and storm drain beneath Seattle. Even knowing where he started from, how can we hope to find the guy if he decides to get lost in all that?”

Malice smiled “Actually, there are well over a thousand miles of tunnel if you include all the different eras of construction and redundant systems and abandoned bits. It could be a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack.” He took a deep swig on his bottle, emptying it.

“Yet you don’t seem worried about that fact.” Midnight offered, well aware of the confidence Malice was displaying in his body language and the joyous way his voice outlined the bad news.   
“I’m not. See, a lot of that mileage is actually occupied by the Ork Underground and I struggle to see him being welcome there so we can already eliminate much of that mileage. I also don’t think he’d be using any sewer that is still carrying water or sewage or anything that floods during storms. Too much risk in that.”

“So you can narrow it down to one location from that?” Avril asked excitedly, “We can go right there and get the bastard?”

“Nope” Malice said “We’d still have a couple hundred miles of pitch black tunnel to explore even with that much knowledge. But luckily, I know a guy who can help us narrow it down a lot more than that. I don’t think finding the guy will be a major issue if he has gone underground.”

As he finished his beer and the empty bottle and three empty glasses stood on the table, a feminine figure walked over towards them. The way she walked across the floor, gliding easily between the crowd receiving winks and smiles and nods from all she passed spoke of complete confidence in her surroundings. Her bright silver hair was pulled tightly back in to a long ponytail that swept down almost to her knees behind her. She had the figure of an ex-ballet dancer and moved with the grace and coordination of an athlete in peak condition as she came towards them. She would have been the most attractive woman in the club by a mile if it wasn’t for the angry red scar that ran down the left side of her face, cutting through the gaping wound where once her eye had been. A wound she was displaying proudly, not hidden by a patch or replaced by a cyber eye that her cutting edge clothing and glistening necklace and bracelets left no doubt she could afford if she so chose.

The three runners all smiled as she came over and sat next to Malice who scooted over to ensure he did not touch her. Something about her demeanour made it clear that physical contact would result in violence and even Malice seemed worried by that possibility. Finally, her gaze settled on the new girl.

“So, you going to introduce me to your friend?” She asked, her voice light and easy, disarming in a way that reminded Avril of many of her childhood peers, rich girls with no worries beyond their immediate needs.  
“This is Avril. She is a complication from the last job more than a friend.” Malice said flatly.

“Well, as long as she is in my club, she is my friend.” The woman extended her hand to Avril who shook it. “My name is Silver, and I own this place. I hope you have found everything to your liking so far.”  
Avril just nodded, “Sure. It is very nice.” She was still intimidated by the clientele and yet something told her that upsetting this woman would be a bad idea. She also had to work hard to overcoming the urge to stare at the hideous wound that disfigured the once perfect face before her. Silver switched her attention back to the Runners.

“So how did the job go? You all get paid?” She asked.

“Yeah, we did” Midnight replied, “But it got very complicated. I’d think twice before recommending runners for any future jobs from that particular Johnson.”

Silver nodded, knowing her reputation with runners was based on the kind of work she could get for them as much as ensuring she could find jobs regularly. “He double cross you?”

“Not exactly” Kallie replied, “But it did get exceptionally complex.”

Malice spoke up, determined to avoid discussing his shortcomings and errors of the last few hours any more than absolutely necessary. “Anyway, we are still kind of engaged on the job at the moment and I was hoping you could get your hands on some items we need.”

Silver smiled at him, “You know I can, given time and money enough. What do you need?” She took out a data-pad to record their needs

Malice looked at the woman and started to list off their needs. “Most of what we need is pretty simple. A couple clips of gel rounds, four environment suits with breathers.” He paused a moment, thinking “An armoured coat for Avril here and a light pistol, something like a Colt American or a Security 500 if you can get it. The exact model doesn’t matter, but something with low recoil, easily concealable. Nothing that requires unusual or exotic ammo either.”

Silver nodded, “Nothing too difficult there. Anything else?”

Kallie spoke, “Yeah, there is one last thing. We need a mage mask.”

Silver looked at her, eyes wide. “Say that again. I don’t think I could have heard you correctly.”

“You heard. A mage mask. Those things Lone Star and other prisons use to keep people like me under control when they catch us. Can you get one?”

Silver thought a second, “Maybe. They are pretty rare things but I may have a way to secure an example. How soon do you need it?”

“Immediately.” Malice said and saw Silver’s disbelieving look and so offered a clarification. “In the next few hours at the very longest anyway.” He gave a wicked grin, aware of how ridiculous his request was.  
Silver looked over at him and nodded. “And you are aware such speed costs money?”

He nodded “We are, and it will be worth it for us if you can get the items quickly.”

Silver stood up. “I’ll send another round of drinks over. I’ll quicklu make some phone calls and get right back to you.”

The runners sat at the table anxiously as the second round of drinks arrived. Malice sipped his beer and noticed Avril taking her time with the second glass, unlike the first she had swallowed down in one eager gulp. Obviously trying to pace herself as the reality of her situation was dawning on her, he realised, and maybe she wouldn’t be as much of a detriment as he had feared.

“I thought you wanted materials to conjure an elemental.” Malice asked Kallie, more to fill the odd silence than anything.

“I do, but I won’t buy that stuff from just anyone. I need to be sure I work with the purest, most appropriate material. If it isn’t of decent quality, what I summon may not be as helpful as I would want and at worst could even try to kill me. That would be a complication I’d rather avoid to say the least. We’ll need to wait a while for our order to arrive anyway, so I’ll visit my supplier once we leave here and set to work on something.”

Malice looked at her, again acutely aware how little he understood about magic. Why were only certain types of kindling, rocks or water suitable for calling up spirits? One bag of dirt was exactly the same as any other surely? He knew he’d never truly understand but more than anything was thankful that he didn’t need to. “Fine, I’ll go pick up my bike from where I left it while you do that. Can you two take Avril with you? I don’t think she’ll enjoy gang territory after dark very much, even with such a charming and knowledgeable guide as myself to steer her through.”

Midnight nodded. “I’ll take care of her, no worries.”

They lapsed in an awkward silence for the next couple of minutes, each mentally preparing for the events to come in their own ways. That uncomfortable revelry was broken only by the relief of seeing Silver walking back over towards them.

“Ok, I’ve spoken to a few people and I can get what you need. it’ll cost you five and a half grand. My contact can only get an armoured vest and leather coat for the elf rather than a proper full armoured coat. Still, if that is agreeable, I can have the items here in two hours. I know you probably have work to do so cannot sit around and wait for them to arrive. If one of you want to return to pick them up from the side door, I’ll make sure they are ready and waiting for you. As usual, I’ll require ten percent payment up front and the rest on delivery.”

“Sure thing, I’ll drop back and collect them later.” Malice replied before anyone else could make the offer. After he handed over his credstick and paid the deposit, Silver returned to her usual work running the club and Malice opened the door at the rear of the booth and headed back out in to the damp night. 

“Meet me back out here in two and a quarter hours.” He said as the team headed in opposite directions, the three women heading left out of the door back towards the van and Malice moving left to hire himself a taxi back to the edge of the barrens, already calculating the cost in nuyen this race was creating. They better win or he’d be very out of pocket from the dragon's game indeed.


	16. Chapter 16

It had been a month or so since Kallie had last been to her supplier, the recent jobs she’d taken on not requiring the use of elementals or other such spirits. Midnight decided to wait outside in the car with Avril, taking this brief respite to give her a brief rundown of basic runner etiquette, since she’d become part of their operation as an ally rather than a casualty. Kallie certainly hadn’t predicted this turn of events, surprised that after everything the young woman had the strength to want to fight back, although maybe the dragon’s healing gave her the kick she needed. It was clear how Malice thought of the situation, although the man’s harsh and clinical demeanour seemed to crack ever so slightly seeing Avril stand up for herself, so perhaps things wouldn’t be a complete mess. Either way, Kallie thought, if Avril could fire a gun then she wasn’t really their problem anymore: she’d decided to join them, she would either succeed or die, just like any other runner.

The soft ping of a bell rang out as Kallie entered the shop, the smell of lavender and woody incense immediately greeting her as she closed the door behind her. Crystals and jars filled with a variety of materials lined several shelves as she made her way through the store to the counter, where a female black dwarf with brown hair braided and decorated with rings sat with a pair of large custom magnifying glasses, examining a pile of gems in front of her. At the sound of Kallie’s footsteps she looked up and smiled widely, her eyes comically big through the lenses.

“Hey honey!” She called out, taking the glasses off and placing them on the counter, rubbing at her tired eyes. “How’s life treating you?”

“Ah same as usual,” Kallie shrugged, “you working on anything exciting?”

“New shipment, just checking out the quality, Same as usual, like you say. But I’m sure you’re not here for the pretties, so what can I do for you?”

Kallie smiled. There was a reason she always came back to this place, and it wasn’t just for the quality of the materials. Gemini, the owner, was always a delight and had never let her down before. “I need some soil and rock, if you’ve got any. Ideally I need more rock, the soil can be any kind.”

“Sure sure,” Gemini said, getting down from her stool and wiping her hands off on her apron, “which kind of rock you needing?”

“Igneous if you have any, but I’ll take metamorphic if you don’t.”

“No worries, we’ve definitely got some igneous laying around still. How much you wanting?”

In an ideal situation, Kallie would have taken as much as she could, but there was no point wasting materials when she wouldn’t be able to use them all. “Not too much, I can’t really afford it today.”

“Oh?” Gemini said, curious. “That’s never been no problem for you before, not had much work lately?”

“No no nothing like that, it’s time that I don’t have enough of. Kind of on the clock here with this one.”

“Ah,” the dwarf replied, nodding and heading towards a curtain that led into the backroom, “well I’ll getcha about two thousands worth, that enough for you?”

“You’re a star, Gem.” Kallie grinned at her.

“Don’t you forget it! Get yourself comfortable, I won’t be a minute.”

Whilst Gemini went to fetch the materials Kallie let herself browse the other wears on display, knowing she was due a big restock after this job was over - provided she saw the end of it, which she was confident she would. Even with the events playing out as they had, and the unexpected appearance of a dragon, they were now fighting on their own terms and had some time to prepare, even if it was only a few hours. Given the advantages they had that should be more than enough time to get all their assets together and deal with Martinez for good. A bonus reward on top of this would serve them well for all the drek they’d been through.

Five minutes after she’d left Gemini came back through the curtain, the rocks and dirt held aloft in two separate bags. 

“I’ve got you soil with some basic minerals in,” Gemini explained as she placed them on the counter, “and I’ve also got you basalt. I’d give you obsidian but I don’t have much left in stock, but this should serve you just fine instead.”

“That’s wonderful, thanks for the help on such short notice.” Kallie said as she handed over her credstick, which Gemini swiped and handed back without a second glance. This was, after all, far from their first business interaction.

“Anytime honey, you know that. Good luck with whatever it is you're doing, and give my love to that wife of yours alright? You take care now.”

“Always do. I’ll be back in again soon, look after yourself Gem.” Kallie waved at her as she headed out, materials in hand. 

Hurrying back to the car she put the materials in the boot then jumped back into the driver's seat, where Midnight wasted no time in immediately pulling away from the shop and back onto the roads. 

“Get everything you need?” Midnight asked, eyes focused ahead of her.

“Mm, drop me off at my usual spot in the barrens and pick me up in about two hours, I can’t risk spending any longer on it. It won’t be much but I should be able to summon one powerful enough to give us some kind of edge as we go into this.”

Immediately knowing where Kallie was referencing, Midnight turned the car in the direction of it, having taken her there many times before. The location alone let her know that they’d soon have an earth elemental on their hands, which Midnight could make sense of; if they were going to run around the sewers then it seemed ill-advised to bring a fire elemental that could be easily doused, or a water one that would grow unsettled being surrounded by the stangant, filthy version of itself. Years of running together had taught her a lot about what elementals did, and didn’t like. Kallie had only been asked to summon a fire elemental three times, and each time had been something of a nightmare, both to summon and to deal with afterwards, temperamental little dreks that they were.

“What are we going to do in the meantime?” Avril piped up, having been relatively silent since they left the bar. Midnight figured she’d been trying to take in everything she’d seen and experienced at the bar, what with it being her first real introduction to the world the rest of them inhabited.

“We,” she replied, “will gather all of the restraining equipment back at our apartment and double check we’ve got all the gear we need. Maybe we can see if we have anything spare for you to take, other than what Silver’s providing for us. It shouldn’t take us too long, but by the time we’re done we’ll be setting back off to pick up Kallie here, and then we’ll head back to the bar to rendezvous back with Malice.”

Avril nodded in the backseat and fell silent again. No doubt she’d have further questions once she saw the inside of their apartment. As much as Midnight pitied what she’d been through that day she was almost hesitant to bring her back. After all, it was her and her wifes private space. Sure it was where they kept their gear, but for the most part it was a work free environment, and it felt odd to be bringing in someone who they’d been rescuing earlier, especially now that said rescue-ee had decided to tag along for the ride. Perhaps she was being silly, she thought, Avril wasn’t going to come randomly knocking on their door after this, she wasn’t so helpless, nor did Midnight believe she was that attached to them. And that was provided she made it out of this alive. Still, she took a moment to mourn the privacy and sanctity of their shared space, before shaking the notion away.

It didn’t take much time to reach the location Kallie had requested. Despite being on the other side of the barrens from where they’d been earlier that afternoon, it all managed to look the same. Grey, dreary, crumbling and morbid. But it served their current purpose, so its appearance was of little importance. Kallie unbuckled herself and went to retrieve the two bags from the boot, keeping an eye out for an absent stragglers lurking about. She’d never encountered any before in this particular area, but you could never be too careful; the last thing she needed was someone coming and interrupting her mid summoning.

She stepped around to the drivers window again, where Midnight had already rolled down the window to speak to her. “Two hours yeah?”

“Two hours. Comm me if something urgent comes up.”

“Got it, good luck.” Midnight said, reaching out of the window to squeeze Kallie’s hand briefly before retracting it and rolling the window back up, driving away and leaving her alone in the wasteland. 

The spot she needed to go to was only a little way away, this being her usual summoning area for earth elementals. Twenty feet in front of her stood an old chain link fence, rusted and very worn down. She’d cut away a gap for herself years ago, and so she continued through it now, onwards towards her destination. There’d been plans for some kind of development project years and years ago, Kallie had always presumed it to be for some kind of arcology that ended up going out of business. Either way it meant there was a nice amount of ruins left behind that had been there long enough that greenery had started sprouting up around it again, making it perfect for whether she was summoning both rock and dirt elementals, since there was a nice mix of both. The volume of plants that had crept up was also an added bonus because there weren’t any lingering squatters, since there wasn’t enough earth to pitch a tent, and there wasn’t enough of the ruins to make a suitable place to crash. Sure, there were nicer places to do a summoning, and she had plenty of friends who rented out their own private spaces, but why bother when you could summon somewhere for free?

It only took a few minutes once she was through the gap in the fence to reach the crumbled ruins of the arcology, drab and silent as always. There was some kind of beauty in seeing it the way it was, with nature slowly laying its claim back. The mana around here wasn’t purified by any means, but it always felt refreshing to channel it, and Kallie was sure that today would be no exception. Passing through the long grass curled around the edges of the ruins, she made her way through the remains, hoping to find a relatively open area, not wanting the spirit to feel caged in. Kallie prided herself on having a good relationship with spirits, it was important to her that magic users treated them with respect. After all, they were powerful beings and deserved to be seen as though, they were not just creations for mages and shamans to control mindlessly. Immediately she thought of Martinez and the horror he’d created. Her respect for spirits came up short when it was a blood spirit involved. Anything that involved pain, hurt and the suffering of others to be brought into this world was never a good thing. It was an abomination to magic.

The thought of Martinez made her eager to get on with the task at hand. She stepped through what was once a doorway into a large open area, the concrete ground intact but the walls crumbling away and there was no roof to speak of, just the kind of space she needed. The ground was cool beneath her as she sat cross legged, getting herself comfortable. First she took the bag of soil and laid it out on the ground in front of her, spreading and pressing it so that it made an even circle. Next she took the basalt, carefully placing the rocks around the circle of soil, and placing the remaining rocks leftover in the middle of the pile. Once satisfied with her arrangement, she reached into her backpack and took out her spellbook, placing it gently in her lap and setting an alarm on her psec for two hours from then. All that was left to do was begin the ritual. With a deep breath she opened her astral eyes, and so the summoning began.

Rituals like these had always been a calming process for her, and in many ways she was glad to be a hermetic magic, rather than a shaman. Undoubtedly she could understand that being able to instinctively know and understand magic must have been incredible, and no doubt exhilarating to use, but there was something about learning spell formula, studying how it all worked and trying it out for yourself to have it succeed that brought her no end of joy and self-assuredness. Elementals, for example, had taken a long time to perfect the process, and most mages would have their own unique ways of summoning them. It had taken many attempts to get to a stage where she was comfortable with what materials to use, and where abouts to summon in the first place. As she tugged on the strands of mana around her, weaving them together and through the materials, the repetitive nature of it helped the stresses and the worries of the day slowly fade into the background of her mind. Through the summoning she called out to the spirit plane and let her astral signature shine bright, so that one may find her and create itself through her offerings. As expected, one turned up, and she reached out to it, building it up and giving it as much strength as she could within the time limit she had. The two hours went by seemingly within minutes, which wasn’t much of a surprise to her, time was different on the astral, and it was easy to lose track of. But when the alarm from her psec went off she channeled the last of the mana through her and into the materials she’d laid out she finished the last steps of the summoning.

As she closed off her astral eyes and opened her physical ones, she looked on upon the elemental she’d created. Whilst it wasn’t the strongest she’d ever summoned, it was certainly something she couldn’t help but feel proud of. To any casual observer, it would have looked like a statue. It held a humanoid figure, the black basalt having created a smooth surface, and it bore a striking resemblance to old Egyptian statues locked away behind glass in museums. It’s facial features were lacking, no mouth to speak with, but it had carved out eyes, though they were not very defined, and the nose was chipped at the front. No doubt if she’d had more time she could have made it more rounded, but there was little point mourning over time she never had. It did not speak, but simply stared at her, awaiting her first command. 

“Follow me on the astral.” She requested, and it lowered its head in recognition before disappearing in front of her. She rose from the floor, the rock and soil all gone now, now a part of the physical form of the spirit she’d summoned. She tucked the bags they’d come in back into her rucksack, along with her book, and quickly fired off a message to Midnight letting her know that she was ready to be picked up, if they weren’t already on their way.  _ Parked up,  _ came the reply a few seconds later,  _ see you soon.  _ Kallie stood, and let her bones click as she did her best to ease the ache in her back after being sat so rigid for so long. With a final glance around to make sure she had everything she needed, she headed back through the abandoned complex, knowing that the elemental would be following her. 

In no time at all she was back through the rusted fence, and she could see the car parked on the other side of the street. She headed over quickly, dumping her rucksack in the boot before sliding into the front passenger seat, where Midnight was decked out in one of her combat outfits, different to what she’d been in before, her eyes now a dark shade of orange and her hair red and shoulder-length. Avril had undergone a similar clothing situation, Kallie recognising Midnight’s clothes on her. “You got everything we need then?” Kallie asked, as Midnight started up the car.

“Yep, what about you?”

Kallie looked in the mirror and could see Avril looking about for the spirit. From her expression, Kallie doubted that she’d ever seen one before, and she’d definitely been unconscious when they’d found her in Martinez’s sanctum. She’d get her chance to see it later, and no doubt it would likely scare her - a dark statue with blank features materialising suddenly in the sewers? It would be a learning curve for her, that much was certain. 

“Is it here?” Avril asked, peering out of the windows.

“Yes, it’s on the astral. You’ll get to see it properly later I’m sure.”

That seemed to satiate her curiosity for now, looking back out of the window as Midnight pulled away, watching the barrens pass by with a curious look in her eyes. Given the social circles she was used to inhabiting, their current surroundings must have been really eye-opening for her, for what the reality of a lot of people was like. Kallie left her to it, deciding to talk to Midnight through their private subvocal comms.

“Do you think it’s worth contacting the decker again?” She asked. Midnight glanced at her for a second before returning her eyes to the road, letting her know that she’d heard.

“I don’t know that he’s still contact-able.” Midnight replied. “The job’s over for him and I can’t see the bounty being that important to him, given how much it takes to hire people like him. Besides, I doubt he has the desire to see this through until the end, unlike the rest of us. He wasn’t there with us in Martinez’s bastardised ritual. Why? You think we need him?”

“Depends. How much do you trust Malice and his contact?”

Midnight seemed to mull this over. “He’s not done us wrong so far, and he wants this to work out just as much as we do. I’m aware he doesn’t trust us, so I’m not likely to trust him either, but if he thinks his contact can help then we don’t have any reason to not believe him.”

The rest of the drive back to Silver’s was quiet, with Midnight focused on driving, Avril trying to work out how she was supposed to fit in with the team, and Kallie wondering whether all of this would be worth it in the end. She really wanted to be able to capture Martinez alive, not even for the payout, although that was a strong motivator, but more to see his world crumble around him, to have him realise exactly what he was doing and why he was a hypocrite. She wanted to watch him struggle against the mage mask and realise how powerless he was now. She couldn't imagine that the Draco Foundation would want to keep the man alive indefinitely, not with what he was capable of. The memory of their employer tearing apart the blood spirit came to her mind suddenly, and she couldn’t help but replace the spirit with Martinez in her mind.

Kallie was never a fan of unnecessary violence. But she couldn’t help the smile that snuck onto her face as she imagined the look of horror on Martinez’s face, before the dragon dug its claws into him and tore him open.  The smile stayed with her all the way back to the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i imagine the type of rock chosen for creating those particular earth elementals gives them a lot of personality, and helps with their structure. why you'd choose sedimentary rocks i have no clue, the elemental would fall apart so easily lol


	17. Chapter 17

Malice couldn’t help but smile as he stepped out of the cab and started to walk the last two blocks to where he had left Madison. The driver had charged him over 75 Nuyen for the journey from downtown, claiming he needed to take hazard pay since the odds of the car being ambushed so close to the barrens was stupidly high. Malice couldn’t avoid the irony that he was so scared of street gangs when the person sat less than three feet behind him was a million times more dangerous than gangers would ever be. It just proved how rarely anyone asked to go out of the safe zones from where he did his pick-ups and drop offs. The man clearly had no idea what his own city was really about. Besides, if Malice had decided he had wanted a free ride when they had pulled up to the curb, there wasn’t anything the man could have done to get his money. The pistol inside his passengers arm and the strength enhancement that could rip through the door beside him meant the driver would have to accept whatever offer Malice decided to make in return for the transport. Still, it was obvious the man needed his money and it had took nerve to demand so much for so little. He admired that moxie in a man so he happily paid the obviously ridiculous fee and wished the driver a good night. He watched as the cab started the drive back towards the city, imagining the bald driver sweating in fear of a gang sweeping in and stealing his ride before he could return to places where Lone Star would actually respond and only daring to take a deep breath when he turned on to the highway and could only see the lawless ruin-scape of the real world through the rear-view mirror.

As he returned to his bike, two things caught Malice’s eye as they glistened under the moonlight and both made him smile. The first was the fact that the vehicle was exactly where he had left her, paint unscratched, both tires uncut and the ignition barrel still attached. The lack of damage showed that she clearly hadn’t been touched since he left her. The second was that there was no group of Night Hunters gathered around the doorway of the street clinic where he had left the corpses of his friends and a closer look with the low level magnification built in to his cyber eyes showed that the door was still held shut by the chain, exactly as he had left it earlier. It seemed his luck was coming around after the terrible day he had endured. Clearly, the gang he had killed had pacified the area well enough that his acts had gone unnoticed. Still, with the night wearing on, the night shift guarding the clinic would be arriving any moment and while he would enjoy another slaughter of gangers, he really didn’t have the time. He set to work quickly, determined to achieve his twin goals in the area as soon as possible.

He walked brusquely over to Madison and unlocked the secure storage compartment beneath the saddle. Inside was a large canvas holdall folded neatly to save space and a large sheet of waterproof plastic, folded equally tightly. He grabbed both and locked the seat back closed over the now empty compartment. So equipped, he walked on in to the gang hideout, stopping only to brake a blade off from the hand of one of the corpses he had left on the threshold and close the door behind him, the smell of the dead overwhelming his senses as he did. He wished he could have taken the time to collect what he needed when the kills were still fresh, but he didn’t know he would be able to return to the sewers at the time. Besides, even if he had expected the opportunity to present itself, he knew Midnight and Kallie would not have understood the motivation of the need for what he had to do. Fifteen minutes later, Malice was back on the highway heading downtown, the large holdall strapped tightly to his back as he rode, nose and mouth covered by a strip of green cloth worn over his face like a mask. The evening rush had finished now and the roads were much clearer than they had been on the way in. He was glad of that, needing to push to the speed limit, wanting to ensure he made it back on time to meet the team. Yet he couldn’t risk pushing above that limited because he had to be avoid a traffic cop pulling him over. One look in the bag on his back and its illegal contents and he’d have to shoot his way free. He really didn’t need have the time for that. Also, he suspected the team wouldn’t want to be greeted by wailing sirens and armed law enforcement VTOL’s chasing after his bike and Silver would never allow him back in the bar again if he brought such attention to the Argentum. Still, Madison purred as her rider opened the throttle and swung along the slip road to the downtown core, keeping to the main roads, the fastest possible route back to Argentum now rush hour had passed.

Upon arrival at the Argentum, Malice left the bike a block away from the entrance as he always did and returned to the side entrance on foot, the heavy holdall chained to the rear axle of the bike. He deliberately made a point of not securing the bag too heavily, hoping the combination of the fact this was a well policed neighbourhood and the obviously casual security would convince any potential thieves that the content must be too low value to be worth the risk of stealing. He put his hands in the pockets of his jacket as the cold wind swept down the streets and walked over to the side entrance of Silver’s bar. Inside his pocket, he was absentmindedly playing with his credstick, flicking it between metallic knuckles. He nodded to Kallie, Silver and Avril when he spotted them sat in the van just around the corner from the bar and then headed inside to find the dwarf sat on a large crate instead of the usual chair, his legs dangling comically in mid-air. Malice struggled to choke back his laughter at the ridiculous sight and held out payment without speaking.

“Not gonna check the goods?” The dwarf asked, sliding off the crate.

“You kidding?” Malice replied, the credstick still extended in offer. “I’m buying from Silver. It’s all there and if it isn’t, she’ll make it right. Alone of all the people on this earth, I trust her.”

“As you wish.” The dwarf shrugged and took the credstick, slotting it to transfer the funds and then allowing Malice to pick up the crate of goods in return. Silently, Malice was giving thanks for his enhanced right arm as he lifted the weight of the wooden container one handed. It looked like he was showing off his strength but the truth was that Malice wasn’t sure that his meat limb would be able to even support the weight. His left arm accepted the returned credstick and he walked back in to the cold night towards the parked van and what he supposed he had to accept was his team, including Avril sadly.

Midnight and Avril threw the rear doors wide as he approached and grabbed the crate from him. It took hard work from both of them together to haul it in to the vehicle and Malice was going to comment on Midnight’s limited effort until he realised Avril probably wasn’t offering much help. Kallie was already sliding between the driver and passenger seat to join them in the back. The three women sat on the bench seats above the rear wheel arches as Malice dropped back outside, shut the doors of the van and walked back to his bike unseen. He left them to idly speculate what was so important that he would keep them waiting. Out of sight, Malice untied the black hold-all, carried it over to the van and attached it to the roof of the vehicle using the chain before dropping back to the ground and entering the van to three confused faces.

“Just ensuring we have what we need.” He said as they stared at him, “absolutely nothing to worry about. Now, let’s see what Silver has found for us.” The interior was lit only by the thin yellow electric light flooding through the windshield as Malice grabbed the lid of the crate with his right hand and pulled as hard as he could, nails ripping out of the crate as he ripped the top clean off, exposing the contents to view.

The first thing that caught their eyes was the colour white, so much bright white reflecting yellowish, sickly hues in the pale light. There were four hazard suits in brilliant white with closed hoods and matching white rubber soled boots packed tightly at the top of the crate. As Malice pulled one out, they noticed that they were labelled on the rear in black stencilled letters with the words “Ares Power and Energy” but otherwise were completely unmarked, obviously brand new. The team took one each and piled them neatly beside them, roughly matching size to person. Only Avril took a moment to actually put the rubber boots beside her feet to ensure they would fit. Realising they were slightly small and shaking her head, she gestured to Midnight, swapping with her pair while Malice scooped out the next items inside the bag. He held up four, industrial looking breather masks each packaged with three fresh filters. Again, they were obviously brand new, the seal on the vacuum packed bags unbroken and each team member took one and added them to their piles, their essential sewer maintenance team outfits complete except for hard hats.

Next out of the crate was an elaborate fabric gun case, locked securely but with the key looped through the lock to prevent it being lost. Malice unlocked it and looked at the parts inside, the light pistol broken down in to three, the factory test certificate label still attached by string to the trigger guard.. He said nothing as he picked the parts up and assembled the weapon. He took a few moments to make sure he attached the barrel, oiled the dry metal and cleared the action perfectly. He took the time to build the weapon to prevent Avril doing so. He was determined to avoid misfires due to poor assembly from Avril’s unskilled hands. If their lives would depend on this gun, and they very well might, Malice would be damned if he left it to some vane socialite to set up. The gun constructed, he looked down the sights to make sure the weapon was properly aligned. Still unhappy with the detail, he adjusted the sights slightly, checked again, tested the action a time or two, made more small adjustments and finally nodded. Happy with the set-up of the weapon, he slid an empty magazine home and handed it to Avril. “Not exactly perfect but it’ll do.” He said as he handed it over.

Avril said nothing, only turning the gun over and checking the alignment of the sights for herself. “Yup, not perfect” she said and pointedly adjusted the sights back a little from Malice’s last twist. She looked up at him, her blue eyes showing the pleasure she was taking in undermining Malice’s attempts to patronise her. “Now it’s closer to perfect anyway. Except, you know, I need some actual bullets in the mag unless your plan is for me to throw this at Martinez?”

Malice shrugged as he picked up a bright blue box labelled with the slogan “Weapons’ World Non-Lethal Technology: the worldwide leader in moral home protection solutions.” Malice handed it over to Avril, “Gel rounds. They expand outwards on impact, spreading the force out over a larger area rather than penetrating. If you hit someone with one, it won’t kill them. They hurt like a bastard though so be careful not to shoot us in your excitement. Also, I’d not empty the clip in to him at point blank range if you do want to take him alive. Just because they are marketed as non-lethal doesn’t mean they can’t kill if you fire enough of them at short enough range.”

She nodded, ejected the clip and started to load the gun with the rounds as Malice pulled out a box of standard heavy pistol rounds, the Ares Arms box a riot of UCAS flags and eagle wings. He placed it beside him and reached back in to the almost empty crate to produce two black items, a leather long coat with a high collar and a completely inflexible tank top, the armoured vest. It looked tiny in his hands, almost like a toy. He handed both over to Avril with a wolfish grin. “I got a new outfit for you. I know it isn’t as fashionable as your usual choices, but this may just keep you alive. I promise I’ll look away as you change. I’m a gentleman like that,” The elf gestured for him to put the items on top of her white hazard suit and continued to load her pistol, not even offering Malice the basic courtesy of eye contact. Midnight stared daggers at him however, knowing he was going out of his way to make Avril uncomfortable and his deliberate antagonising her was wearing thin on her now. He shrugged at her withering glance and returned his focus to the crate.

Finally, Malice picked out a brown cardboard container labelled only with a “Secure Equipment, for use only by trained officers. Do not remove from Station 7” sticker He turned it over and opened the package. Inside was a plastic bag containing the mage mask they had ordered and a written sheet of instructions on how to securely fix the item to a prisoner. The container also contained a pair of keys for each of the multiple locking points on the device. Kallie visibly pulled backwards at the sight of the mask and he wondered if she had experienced one of these before or if the presence of what amounted to a torture device for mages alone was a problem. It was also possible that the issue was that the device was in the hands of someone like Malice who she couldn’t really trust. Either way, he figured she would feel better if the thing was in the grasp of someone she trusted more, not that he’d admit that her comfort was something he would consider out loud. He looked over at Midnight and offered her the item. “I’m going to give this to you. I think you’ll be more likely to think to use it. I tend to be a bit narrow in my focus when the violence starts you know?”

Midnight nodded and took the item, keeping it at arm’s length as if it was an insect that was likely to sting her if she let her guard drop for even a second. She placed it amongst her pile of gear and Kallie spoke up. “Ok, we have what we need. Let’s move. I’ll drive. Malice, you take the front seat and navigate. Midnight, you fix the filters in to the four breather units and Avril, you better get changed in to the armoured gear. I’ll make sure Malice keeps his eyes front, don’t worry.“

Malice shook his head as Midnight gathered up all four breather units from the piles. “Thanks, but I’d rather keep my eyes on the inside of the van as I fit my own filter. No offense but I don’t trust anyone in this van with my life and a badly fitted filter could result in a painful death from any of a number of diseases if my suit gets so much as a microscopic rip.” He looked over at Midnight, “No offense of course.”

“None taken” she said, handing him back the packaged breather she had grabbed off his pile and turned to look at Avril, wondering if she would prefer to fit her own filter as well. Avril shook her head gently and it dawned on Midnight that she probably wouldn’t know how to fit the thing even if she had wanted to do it herself. Midnight gave her a kindly glance as she opened the first breather mask and started to work. “I’ve done it a hundred times, I’ll see it’s done right.” She said and set to work.

“I know,” Avril replied, “No one in this van will get me hurt deliberately, I know that. Well, perhaps with the exception of Malice obviously.” Malice responded with dry laughter and jumped in to the passenger seat to give directions to his contact as Midnight started the engine of the van and pulled away, the Argentum disappearing behind them as they headed out in to the cold night.

By the time Malice called the van to a halt in the middle of the barrens, all four of the team wore a complete breather mask around their necks ready to pull over their mouths when the moment came to go underground. Midnight had read and digested the instructions on how to apply the mage mask and Avril had changed in to the armoured vest and long coat. Even Malice had to admit the new outfit made her look a lot more like an actual Runner than her previous high society outfits. If he hadn’t known, from the way she now looked and carried herself, he may even have taken her seriously as a threat. Luckily, he had seen how much effort it had taken her to figure out how to hold herself in the new outfit so there was no worry of him doing that. He recalled how she had turned the collar of the coat up, then folded it down before turning it up again and finally back down, looking at her reflection in the metal of the van door to compare the look, wanting to get it right. After a few moments, Midnight couldn’t help but laugh at the care she was taking, such details coming as naturally to her as breathing thanks to her magical gifts. Eventually, she could watch Avril’s confusion no longer and spoke out. 

“Honey, there are ballistic plates inside the collar, you wear it up to protect your neck. Armoured coats are not popular in the shadows because they look stylish, you know?” Avril said nothing but adjusted the coat according to the suggestion as Midnight sculpted mana around her, adjusting her image to look like an older ork male. The wide face was detailed with stubble thick around his tusks and the pockmark scars of some unsightly skin disease peppering her cheeks. At first Avril wanted to laugh at the image she had adopted, thinking it was just an attempt to show her how little she cared about appearances or to lighten her mood even but then she pulled on the white hazard suit and she realised what Avril was thinking. She looked exactly like the expectation of a minimum wage worker who had spent a lifetime in the sewers keeping the power on unnoticed by those who spent their lives above the pavement.

With the van stopped, the team gathered in the back and after carefully securing the breather masks over their mouths, started to pull on the hazard suits, disappearing in to their own private environments. Avril was just about to close her hood when Kallie stopped her.

“Hold on,” she said and handed her a microphone and earpiece from the glove compartment of the van. “You don’t have the subvocal microphone we do, so you’ll have to use this.” She adjusted the settings to tune it in to the teams secure line. “Whisper when you talk, the mic will pick it up even if you speak very quietly and we want to make as little noise as possible until we have to. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves too soon.”

Avril nodded as she put the earpiece in and adjusted the microphone to sit closer to her mouth above the breather. “Test” she said and Midnight gave her a thumbs up, the line working. Malice felt his revulsion as her voice echoed directly in to his ear and he offered a short prayer to a god he didn’t believe in that she would stay silent as much as possible. He didn’t think he could cope with a barrage of stupid questions as they went hunting. Midnight spoke next.

“Also, tie your hair back.” She said “You really don’t want it to fall in your face inside the hood, it’s impossible to adjust without removing the hood it if that happens and you do not want to be exposed to whatever is growing in the air down there.” Avril nodded and reached up, working her long blonde hair in to a tight ponytail secured with a red elastic band from around her wrist and silence settled over the team as one by one they zipped their hoods closed. 

Suddenly, that silence was broken by the noise of ripping fabric and everyone turned to look at Malice, their shock evident in their sudden attention. How could he have possibly managed to rip his suit so quickly? Sure, he wasn’t exactly delicate in his actions and the material was thin, but surely he knew enough to take care with the suit that would protect his very life. On the bench, Malice smiled, the entire right arm of his suit ripped off from the elbow down. The glove and sleeve lay on the floor by his feet and he was taping the ripped edge of the suit firmly to his metallic cyber arm with a roll of black duct tape from the restraint kit Midnight had provided. After wrapping the tape around his arm half a dozen times or so, he looked up at the group.

“What? I need my smartlink and besides, the arm is metal. It can’t catch anything and I can just swill it clean when I get back up to the surface.” He activated the holster in his arm and the pistol shot in to his hand, something that would be impossible inside the glove of a bio-suit. He looked over the team, checking they were safely secured inside their suits. Satisfied, he spoke out.

“Right, we’re going to go see an old friend of mine but that doesn’t mean we are going to be safe in his territory. No matter what, I need you to do what I say or we’ll have trouble. Regardless of what you see, or hear, you follow my lead and do as I say. Understand?”

The women nodded. “Good, then we’ll be fine. One last thing, my friend is, well, he’s a bit different. Don’t let him get under your skin. We go back to when we were kids and I trust him with my life but even I have to admit he’s a jerk at the best of times.”

Midnight nodded, having no concerns about that. Her skill set meant that she could get on with most anyone and she saw no reason this guy would be any different, however rude life in the underground had made him. Kallie was breathing slowly, eyes half shut and Midnight knew that her wife was watching things from the other world. Avril had her pistol in her gloved right hand, her nervous energy causing her to cling to it as if her life depended on it. She was determined not to be a victim again, no matter what that meant she had to do. Malice threw open the back doors to the van and swung up on to the roof of the vehicle as the rest of the team climbed out, adjusting to the squeaking sounds of the suits as they walked, the bulk of the material taking a few moments to adjust to.

The suit seemed to cause less of a distraction to Malice who had removed his hold-all from the roof of the van and dropped back to the ground with it strapped to his back. Working the shadows in the barrens had meant he had found cause to pass a lot of time in the sewers and he’d literally spent days at a time in this sort of suit. It felt familiar in a way that would take the women a few minutes to adjust to. Still, he said nothing as he headed towards the ruin of what had once been a factory but now was little more than four walls open to the elements and a collection of vivid mushrooms and mosses. The team followed behind him and he could hear Avril’s breather through the microphone as she moved along, her fear making the noise rapid and shallow.

They passed through what had once been a doorway and in to the interior of the building, Malice walking with a purpose to a metallic sheet that covered a staircase that led down to what had once been the basement of the factory building. He pulled the sheet aside and descended the stairs, confident in his direction as he moved. “Last one down, pull the cover back over the entrance.” He said.

“Understood” said Kallie and the basement became pitch dark as the mage closed the entrance behind them. Only a small trickle of moonlight spread down to the empty room below the ruin yet Malice walked easily between piles of rubble, rusty heaps of old metal machinery and various other trash. Avril’s voice came over the communication array, a nervous tone as she headed deeper in to the dark.

“Lucky I have lowlight huh?” She said, her need to speak causing her to say something in an attempt to reduce the growing tension. Malice said nothing, her unhelp comment exactly what he had feared from her. He just moved on to a second door, this one wooden and crudely hung. He opened it easily, the hinges well-oiled despite the rough shape of the building and pushed on; again ensuring the door was closed behind the team. With two metallic doors behind them now and no lighting at all, even low light vision was useless. Malice had no problem, switching his vision to thermographic and both Midnight and Kallie could see on the astral as far as he knew. However, Avril was blind now the tunnels the kind of dark that is simply impossible above ground where even during the darkest night a silver of silver moon and pinpricks of stars provided some illumination. 

“Guys,” Avril’s voice came through the link, “Anyone got a torch or something? I’m blind here.”

“No lights.” Malice said, his tone brooking no argument. The tunnel they were in slopped downwards beneath their boots, the floor tiles uneven and broken. Malice couldn’t see the floor or sides of the tunnel, and instinctively put his arms out to touch the walls, using the shape of the crudely cut tunnel to guide himself as he pushed onwards.

“It’s ok.” Midnight reassured Avril, sensing her fear through her almost hyperventilating breather sounds over the coms. “Reach out and put your hand on my shoulder, I’m right in front of you and I can use magic to see. Kallie is behind you and she can see as well. You are fine if you stay close between us.”

With Avril in physical contact with Midnight and Kallie watching them on the astral, Avril seemed to calm. They pushed down and eventually the rough tunnel branched out in to a proper sewer tunnel, the floor no longer roughly tiled but a metallic grating and the noise of water flowing beneath their feet broke the odd silence. Midnight was suddenly very glad for the suit keeping the stench she knew the raw sewage would be producing out from her skin and hair. The teams progress was slow now, the darkness causing each foot to be placed slowly, carefully, everyone afraid of slipping on any of the foul material flushing passed them. Occasionally, the squeaking noise of rats in the distance cut through the wet, squelching sounds and Avril looked around, unsure if it was a good or bad thing she couldn’t see the creatures emitting the sounds. Eventually, Malice spoke up from the front of the team, sensing how on edge everyone was becoming and trying to calm them down. 

“Doing well guys. I know it wears on your nerves down here. Keep it up, one more door and we’re there.”

A few minutes later, Malice lifted a vertical door and they passed through a low entrance. As they did, the noise of their footfalls became echoing thuds. The cramped sewage tunnel had opened out in to a large round space, some sort of overflow tank Midnight presumed that could be closed off from the system to clean it or isolate something the controllers may worry was contaminating the water supply. The door was held shut perminantly now, keep the whole at least somewhat dry. The space echoed with their footfalls, metallic sounds reverberating back to the team with every step. Malice suddenly stood still, his pause causing Midnight and Kallie behind them to also stop and Avril to pause a moment later as she nearly crashed bodily in to Midnight ahead of them.

“What’s happening?” Avril said, still effectively blind.

Kallie was the first to notice that the team were no longer alone, a number of auras surrounding them. Maybe a dozen people were hiding on the edge of the area and something was very wrong, their astral forms way too weak, too faint to belong to healthy humans. It was hard to be sure she had spotted all of them, but there was at least a dozen of the things surrounding them in the confines of the storage tank. 

“Malice?” Kallie’s voice reflected her fear, the figures moving around them. “You are aware we are not alone now, right?”

“Don’t sweat it” he replied, his voice flat as he knelt down and removed the bag from across his back and dropped it on the floor of the chamber with a metallic thud. The vague auras started to creep closer, obviously trying to work out if they had an advantage, pushing closer and closer to the team. Avril could hear them in the darkness, sense them getting closer and she instinctively raised her pistol, ready to fire if anything pushed close enough that she felt she could hit it. Kallie mentally reached out to contact the elemental, ready to call for backup if needed. Midnight turned to face the nearest threat, her guard up ready to fight.

Malice opened the bag and they heard a damp thud as he threw a chunk of whatever was inside across the room. He repeated the actions, each one making wet smacks as they went skittering along the floor of the chamber. The contents of the hold-all sounded heavy and damp as the lumps Malice had thrown smacked on the metallic floor but the astral forms started to shift to face towards whatever Malice had thrown to them, their threat ebbing. Midnight allowed herself to shift her weight back slightly on to her rear foot, her guard still raised but not on the verge of aggressive violence as the threats pushed backwards towards Malice’s distraction. Kallie released the mental bridge to her elemental as Malice seemed to know what he was doing. Only Avril remained on edge, swing around and pointing the pistol at any sound of movement in the darkness.

“Malice!” A voice rang out of the darkness, throaty and deep. “I hate to say it, but your friend is going to get you all killed if she keeps pointing that weapon at us.”

“Avril, we’re good. You can stand down now.” said Midnight, the calming effect of her words enhanced by the full weight of her magical abilities and immediately Avril found her heart rate lowered and the gun pointed at the floor. She didn’t feel relaxed in her mind, and the noise of heavy things crawling around them in the total dark was unnerving but there was no doubt Midnight’s words were correct. She understood there was no need for violence right now no matter how much that confused her since she knew she was still in danger.

“Razor?” Malice’s voice rang out. “I’ve brought you all a gift to show we mean you no harm. I’d appreciate it if you could turn the lights on and show yourself. It will help my friends relax and I know it makes no difference to you these days. Rest assured, no one here will hurt you. You have my word.”

A momentary pause and then a guttural noise echoed before the buzz of a generator sounded out and a faint grey glow filled the room. It was still hard to see, deep shadows hiding everything except what was in the exact middle of the space. Suddenly the team could see what Malice had thrown from the bag. Huge chunks of bloody meat were scattered around the room but as they looked closer they spotted the gang colours and green tattoos of the Night Hunters. The meat was human, butchered parts of the gangers Malice had killed earlier. Gaunt figures pushed out of the shadows, grabbed chunks of the meat and disappeared back in to the shadows, the gnawing sounds of their feasting echoing back as they hungrily consumed the raw flesh. Avril’s dry heaving came over the coms as she realised what was happening around her.

Midnight found her voice first over the revulsion of what was happening all around them and spoke aloud, not caring if she was overheard by the creatures that surrounded them. “Malice, we are surrounded by a pack of ghouls, aren’t we?”

The guttural voice from the darkness answered her. “You mean you are in a recovery facility for people infected with a very nasty version of HMHVV? Right?” Footsteps echoed around them as whoever was speaking moved closer to the puddle of light. “You do understand we are victims not monsters?”

Malice answered. “Of course they do.” He switched to the subvocal microphone to speak to the team . “Razor was my friend before he got infected. He’s still who he was, mostly. I mean, he doesn’t enjoy hotdogs at ball games on summer afternoons anymore, but you know… Be nice.”

Avril spoke “But you eat people right? I mean, that’s evil.”

The voice answered. “Is it? We have to consume dead human flesh; that much is true. But I can assure you me and my friends here never eat anyone who isn’t dead before the meal begins. We rarely have to kill anyone to prepare the food either. Luckily, we have some understanding friends above who bring us meat when they can without risking their own freedom.”

“We’re not here to engage in the Ghoul rights debate you so love Razor” Malice spoke out “We need your help. Please step out of the darkness and let them see you. It will help my friends relax.”

A male figure dressed in ripped jeans and a blood splattered white t-shirt stepped from the darkness and in to the shadow of the electronic light. He had obviously been a handsome human in his late teens before he had been infected but his appearance had been ruined by the disease. His skin was palled and his cheeks sunken beneath his bald head. The white voids of his blind eyes were unsightly but nowhere near as disturbing as his pointed fang teeth. He was chewing on the wrist of a human arm as if chewing on a strip of jerky in a bar as he stepped forward, his choice morsel from Malice’s gift. “If you wish.” he said, approaching Avril “Tell me, does this make you feel better?” He sensed her drawing back from his disgusting form and smiled, seeming to reveal in her revulsion at what he had become. “You know,” he said to her in as charming a tone as he could manage through his ruined vocal chords “You have a very beautiful aura. Have you seen it? Can you see on the astral?”

Avril felt her revulsion rise as the creature stepped closer, afraid to draw back and give offense while surrounded by so many ghouls. Razor approached her closely now, stepping inside her personal space, seemingly enjoying her discomfort despite his kind words. “N…No, I can’t.” She said, her fear dripping from every word.

“Would you like to?” Razor was close enough to whisper in to the hood of the suit, as if he was whispering in to her ear.

“What?” Avril asked, stepped back involuntarily as the ghoul was close.

“Razor, come on.” Malice said, his voice not aggressive but clearly asking firmly for restraint. He had seen this routine before and didn’t have time for it right now.

“I asked if you would like to see how beautiful your aura is. “ Razor said. “I could let you. All it takes is a few drops of my blood or saliva in your system and in a few agonising days, you can see the astral. Perhaps a single nibble of a finger?” His sharp teeth added a hissing sound to every word, threatening and uncomfortable, as she pulled back from him again. “Oh, sorry. Is that idea too cruel? The pain of my teeth cutting through your flesh too torturous. I understand. Perhaps you would prefer a different bodily fluid for my gift?” He gave her a smile as he spoke, “I think you are right about that. I think I would prefer it too.”

Avril jumped two steps backwards and raised her pistol to the head of Razor, finger pushing gently on the trigger, a gentle squeeze from killing her. His laughter, sick and dark, like a frozen tide, echoed through the space. 

“Please, pull the trigger. I’d thank you for ending my suffering.” Avril gathered herself and lowered the gun slightly, not willing to kill this pathetic creature, “Oh, you don’t want to do it anymore? Pointing the gun was just a reaction to my hurtful words? How predictable you are.” His bitter laughter died away. “Don’t worry, I’m still human despite my illness. I don’t want to infect anyone, let alone someone with their whole life ahead of them like you. I just needed the laugh.”

Avril gritted her teeth. “Funny? You thought that my being disgusted and afraid was funny? I could have killed you!”

Razor turned to face her. “Look, let me explain something to you. This damn disease took away my handsome good looks, my ability to enjoy a walk on a sunny day and even to enjoy the sight of a beautiful woman. Hell, I can’t even eat a bag of chips without being sick for a month. The only thing I still have is my sense of humour. If you won’t kill me, don’t you dare try and deny me that.”

Malice stepped closer, hand on the shoulder of his own friend. “Leave her alone. She’d had a rough time these last few days.” He said, guiding Razor away from the elf. “We need your help old friend.”

“Oh? What do you need?” He replied, “What can we possibly have that you cannot get for yourself topside?”

“Information. We need to find someone we think is hiding in the sewers beneath the barrens. You know everything that goes on down here.”

“Who?” Razor’s response was direct, serious now.

“He’s a priest. Hispanic and a humanis supporting slot at that. He uses magic but he may not know that. He’s older, not too tall and ….” Malice started to describe the man’s physical description before Kallie noticed Razor’s disinterest and cut him off. 

“Your friend can’t see the physical world.” She said simply, “You waste time describing his looks. Let me handle this. His aura is bright. Brighter than anything you would normally see. Like an angelic halo or radiance. Silvery white.” She spoke but as she did she channelled mana, physically projecting her memory of his aura as best she could on the astral plane for Razor to see.. As she did, the noise of chewing and ripping flesh from the feeding feral ghouls around the room fell silence and she could feel them draw back. “You know him don’t you?”

“We know him. He’s killed a few of us before now.” Razor’s words were laced with sadness and it dawned on the team that he actually cared about his fellow victims, or patients or whatever he called the feral ghouls that made up his pack.

“How?” Malice replied, “What happened.”

“There is another pack of infected people who live in the tunnels up near Redmond. They’ve been a territorial rival of ours for a while. See, there is a couple of morgues in their territory.” He looked over at Avril as he spoke the next words, enjoying her disgusted facial expressions. “They are like buffet restaurants to us you see, rich feeding grounds. We fight over them. Anyway, the man you are searching for helps them.”

Midnight spoke out, “Why would Martinez help flesh eating, magical monsters? It makes no sense! He is an anti-magic and anti-metahuman extremist. What you say makes no sense.”

Razor let the word monsters pass for once but gave her a withering glance. “We don’t really know why he helps them. All we know is that one night the pack killed any of their number who weren’t human before they got infected and after that the mage helped them out. We also know they don’t eat human meat any longer, at least as far as we can tell. The man you seek seems to be happy to provide them with more than enough Ork and even troll flesh to survive so they don’t miss out from not eating breeders. In return for his providing food, they seem to keep anyone from entering the sewers beneath three whole blocks of the city. Even we cannot take human corpses from anywhere in the three blocks without fighting off a bunch of them. They don’t even eat the food but they prefer to see it rot and go to waste than allow us to take it.”

Kallie thought a moment. “This sort of makes sense. He’s walking amongst the lepers, just like Jesus did. They also serve as a disposal method for bodies his church produce when Metahumans need removing from circulation. The whole arrangement is twisted of course, but it does make some logical sense.”

“So you can take us to him?” Malice asked simply.

“I can take you to the edge of the area claimed by his pack. You are on your own after that. I won’t risk getting the pack locked in a deadly turf war with them just so you can get a pay day from some corporate suit up top.”

Avril spoke up. “Really? Just like that? You demand no reward? No task for us? You just help us out of the kindness of your heart so long as you don’t have to fight anyone?”

Razor laughed again. “Well, you make a good point but we have no need for money or technology or anything down here. What do you offer us that we need? Still, the pack is down a few members at the moment so we could use reinforcement. Unless you want to volunteer to join us as payment I don’t think you have anything we want?” He laughed again at her disgusted reaction. “Look, if you four can take out the ghoul pack that are working with him or even just eliminate the mage that is helping them, we get a new territory with morgues. That is reward enough. Besides Malice is an old friend of mine. He provides us food quite regularly.”

Malice nodded and Razor let out a series of guttural groans, communicating with his pack. A few moments later and a group of four were by the doorway, their meal forgotten. Razor looked back at the runners. “Ok, stay close and follow us. The tunnels get pretty twisty a block or two from here so if you get lost it could take you weeks to find your way out. Stay together and we’ll take you to where you want to be.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for such a late upload, real life got in the way this week
> 
> warnings for violence

Razor and one of his pack led the group forward, whilst the other three ghouls remained behind the runners, covering their tracks as they ventured further into the sewers. Razor would make grunts occasionally to his crew, but for the most part remained quiet, letting the runners talk amongst themselves. Midnight and Avril stayed nearer the back, with Kallie and Malice up front, just behind his friend. 

“So,” Kallie said, as they trudged deeper into the sewers, “this is where you dump your corpses huh?”

Malice attempted to give her a hard stare, although its effect was somewhat dulled by the presence of the hazmat suit. “It’s convenient,” he settled with, “you have a problem with it I presume.” 

“Not a problem.” Kallie countered, stepping over what she thought was a leg in the dark. There was the distinct sound of Avril gagging over the comms. “Just surprised you’d be willing to come so close to magically active people, especially of this caliber.”

She wasn’t trying to be confrontational, but her curiosity about the entire situation was overwhelming. Even Malice seemed taken aback with the forwardness of her questions, or maybe that was just his surprise that she’d gauged his complete and utter fear for all things magical. “Please,” she said, before he could reply, “I’d have to be an idiot not to notice. I know that’s why you don’t trust me, you’ve said as much yourself. And I’m not asking about your history with magic, frankly that’s your business. But still, I find it hard to believe you’d willingly spend time with ghouls, even if one was your friend.”

Malice’s eyes looked towards Razor then, his gaze hardening a little. “It’s not his fault what happened to him. I don’t come down here to get my kicks, I bring him and his pack what they need, that’s that.”

“And it doesn’t scare you? Being surrounded by them? What if you come down one day and that last bit of humanity is gone? Are you someone who can just kill your friends outright?”

“What you see is what’s left of him, that’s who he is now, he’s not going to change anymore unless someone develops a cure. You’ve made your opinion on the matter quite clear, and frankly it’s none of your fragging business.”

His reply was cold, and she’d realised she’d touched a nerve. She hadn’t meant to piss him off, only work out why he was okay with ghouls despite his fear, though evidently he didn’t seem them as ghouls, merely sick humans. It was probably the most humane reaction to something she’d seen him have, and it didn’t sit right with her that he was so flared up about this matter when she couldn’t agree with him, since she’d always been very firm in her morals. But he did have a point, it really wasn’t any of her business, and she didn’t want to have bad blood between them, not at this point in their mission.

“Hey. This fear of magic you have? It’s not irrational. It’ll keep you alive. Anyone who isn’t scared of magic should be.”

Malice glanced over at her again, trying to see whether she was messing with him or not. She kept his gaze with a completely serious expression, and a moment later he nodded at her, the conversation over but they seemed to be back on equal footing again, the tension dropped. It wasn’t as though she was lying either, she agreed that magic was powerful and incredibly dangerous. Gathered she didn’t seem to have the innate fear that Malice did, but she understood what a dangerous tool it could be, and how seriously it needed to be taken. If anything this entire run had only reinforced that belief in her, now seeing what dragons were capable of. And she knew for a fact that was only a measly display of the power Damon possessed. She’d hate to come face to face with a great dragon.

Meanwhile throughout their conversation, Midnight and Avril were lost in their own. “Is it always like this?” She asked, muttering a quiet ‘ew’ as she kicked away an unidentifiable limb. Midnight raised an eyebrow, trying to get her to elaborate on her question. “Your work, is it always this gross?” She clarified.

Midnight looked at their surroundings, at the people they were walking with, and thought back to the dismembered corpses Malice had brought with him as a welcoming gift. “No,” she said, “this is uniquely disgusting.” It was out of her comfort zone for sure. She was used to manipulating people, and there wasn’t much of that to be done underground. She could fire a gun, sure, but it wasn’t her strongest skill and whilst she wouldn’t admit to it, she was feeling hesitant about the whole gig. She didn’t like not being able to contribute and down here she felt entirely useless. Her main hope was that Martinez wouldn’t be too difficult to find and they could deal with him quickly, claim the reward and then she’d never have to come back down to this place again. She was perfectly happy living in ignorance of what went on below the streets she walked, thank you very much. This entire thing had been an enlightening experience which she never wanted a repeat of.

“I didn’t even realise people like that lived down here.” Avril continued, unable to stand the silence. She was clearly nervous, although after Razor’s display Midnight couldn’t blame her. She wasn’t surprised a contact of Malice’s had a sense of humour like that, if it could be called humour. Midnight was a skilled manipulator, but she hated shows of power for the sake of unnecessary intimidation. And for what? Just to get a kick? These people really did have sad lives if that was the case.

“Are the people you deal with always such assholes?” Avril asked, and Midnight smiled a little.

“Who, Malice?”

“No! Well, him too, but you know who I mean, your contacts or whatever.”

Midnight chuckled. “Depends. It’s fairly common, people are very aware of their talents and how much they’re worth. You get used to it. Runners aren’t exactly the nicest people you know, we’re all criminals of varying degrees. I know Kallie and I have been kind to you, but it won’t always be like that. I’ve killed before, and I won’t hesitate to do it again. That’s just how it is. Why, you think you’ve found your calling?”

Avril went quiet for a moment. Midnight presumed she was just embarrassed from her questions and was about to forget they’d even had a conversation when she spoke up again, in a small voice.

“No. But I can't go back to who I was before. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now.”

The elf said nothing more and Midnight didn’t know what else to add to that. She wasn’t even sure what she could have said. It was a fair enough point, Avril had certainly been ripped rather viciously from the world she’d previously inhabited, and there was no way she could return with open arms after everything she’d been through. The events of the past day weren’t something you’d easily forget. She was with them for the rest of this run but after that? She’d have to try to find her own path again. And there was no way she could make any decisions easily, or lightly.

After twenty or so minutes of walking they finally stopped in a wide open space that Malice could tell was a junction. The platform they were standing on had metal chains across to prevent any unnecessary slips, although two metal beams had been placed to make a makeshift bridge between the platform they were on and the one opposite them, which was identical to their own. Beneath the beams the filthy water of the sewers ran fast down another tunnel, the murky waters reflecting the sickly green lights that flickered overhead.

“This is as far as we can take you,” Razor said to Malice, the other ghouls lingering behind and grunting, “you’ll find your guy on the other side. From what I can tell there’s about a dozen in the other clan, give or take. And as I said, we’d be very appreciative if you could take some of them out, help us claim some territory back. Good luck old friend.”

Malice nodded and waved him off, Midnight and Kallie giving the guy a wide berth. As Razor walked back past Avril he gave her a quick leer, to which she scoffed at in disgust, and prompted a bout of laughter from him, which echoed as he retreated back with his pack.

“I hate him.” Avril muttered darkly, prompting a laugh from Malice. After everything this team had been through because of her it was nice to push her and tease her. There was something so satisfying about seeing someone from her world caught up in his, completely out of depth. But as long as she could fire the gun he’d given her and not clip him with it, then that was all he asked for, though he doubted her ability to even manage that. He should have shot her when he had the chance, it would have put her out of her misery, and they wouldn’t have had to deal with any of this drek.

The group looked with uncertainty at the metal support beams that led to the other side, weary of stepping on them and falling off, cascading into the filthy waste below.

“You’re the lightest,” Malice said, pointing at Avril, “you go first.”

“You’ve got to be joking.” Avril scoffed.

“I have a lot of gel rounds here, don’t think for a second that I won’t use them on you.”

Avril looked to Kallie and Midnight for support, but instead was met with shrugs. “You are the lightest…” Kallie replied and Avril threw her hands in the air and did her best to try stomp over to the makeshift bridge. “Fine!” She muttered, with a quieter “For frag’s sakes…” afterwards, as she climbed over the metal railing. Hesitantly she put her boot on the beams, carefully testing her weight on it to see how much they would move. Thankfully there was no give, and they didn’t move around too much, meaning that this was simply a matter of keeping her balance, which would have been fine except now she was in a hazmat suit and was loaded with weapons and ammo. She took a moment to psyche herself up before she stepped forward, doing everything she could to ignore the sound of the sewage beneath her, and just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. She went across as steady as she could and with a great amount of relief made it across to the other side with no problems. Kallie and Midnight came over just fine after her, although as Malice began journeying across Avril had half a mind to kick the beams out and watch him fall into the waste, but she decided against it, only because she reasoned that he wasn’t worth the pain she’d experience from kicking solid metal.

He once again took the lead as the group continued into the next set of sewer passages, leaving behind the bright light of the junction and venturing further into the dimly lit tunnels. “So how are we going to find him now?” Avril asked, “We don’t have a guide anymore.”

“Quiet, you’ll get us spotted.” Malice muttered.

“The ghouls will spot us on the astral before they ever hear us coming,” Kallie offered, “talking won’t make any difference.”

“Fine. We don’t need a guide, we’re following breadcrumbs.” Malice replied. 

“What do you mean?” Avril asked. Malice said nothing but gestured down to a severed orc hand floating past them. Avril gagged again, and Malice smirked. 

They continued forward. Kallie knew that it might have been easier for her to astrally perceive instead, and they’d find them a lot easier, but she knew if she did that she’d be positively glowing on the astral, and that would lead the ghouls to them much quicker. Ideally she wanted any slight advantage they had going into this, the whole concept of fighting ghouls terrifying to her. She was ready to use ranged spells when they got into combat, if the elemental couldn’t deal with them first, but in no way was she going to risk fighting in close quarters and get herself injured and infected. She couldn’t think of anything worse, especially not after seeing them all first hand. She’d heard of ghouls and what they went through, looked up on it once in her studies, but seeing it first-hand? Nothing could have prepared her. They were horrifying.

“I presume we’re saving all the non-lethal rounds for Martinez. Shoot to kill on the pack?” Kallie asked, feeling for her sidearm. She was more likely to use magic, but if drain became a problem she could fire a gun well enough, and it would work from a reasonable distance.

“Yes but don’t waste ammo, I don’t want to get to Martinez and have nothing to kill the fragger with if he gets out of control.” Replied Malice.

“I don’t think we’ll have much of a problem,” said Midnight, “if these guys have been mainly living off meta-human bodies then perhaps they’ll be weaker. But you’re right, let’s not be wasteful if we can avoid it.”

The group reached a split path, the tunnels carving off to the left and right. Before they could begin to argue about which one to take, a sudden skittering sound caused the group to freeze. Bar Kallie, the rest of them readied their weapons immediately, waiting for the noise again to try gauge what direction it was coming from. Again they heard the sound off splashes in the water, but the tunnels made it echo, and they looked around hopelessly.

“Where the frag are they…” Malice muttered, gun trained behind them, down the tunnel they’d been walking through. Midnight was looking down the left tunnel ahead of them, whilst Avril took the right, her grip on the gun surprisingly steady given the circumstances. There was a shrill shriek and suddenly the sound of quick movement came louder and louder, and before the rest of them had time to work out which tunnel it was coming from, Avril fired off four rounds in quick succession, missing the first shot and managing to hit the last three into the creature that had raced towards her, stopping it dead in its tracks. The team approached it gently as Avril stood there, unmoving, her breathing coming fast as she stared at the dead creature in front of her.

“What the hell is that?!”

“Devil rat.” Grunted Malice, reading his weapon again. “Get ready,” he said, as the sound of more scratching came from the tunnel, “these guys travel in packs. Kallie if you’ve got that spirit handy now would be a good time!”

“We need it for Martinez!”

The sound of the rats came closer, and Malice switched over from his side-arm to his UZI, the gel rounds absolutely unnecessary in this situation. “Fine then, if you’re going to be useless then get behind me whilst I deal with this.”

Now that he could tell the direction they were coming from he could see the heat signatures on his thermographics. There were about twenty from what he could tell, all about a meter in size. The numbers didn’t matter so much, they’d be dead very shortly. He smiled to himself, happy to be presented with such a target rich environment. He could see Avril still aiming her weapon out of the corner of his eye, but he doubted she’d manage to hit any of these, the first one was luck and not much else. As the rats came closer he fired, shooting them right between the eyes as they rushed forward. Seeing the blood come out of them was both satisfying and skin crawling, since he knew exactly what the blood from these animals could do to people. As he fired at the rats, he could hear Avril panicking as she tried to reload her weapon. Whilst he was glad someone else was actually trying to do something about this, she would be as useless as the others if she couldn’t actually reload her weapon. He had taken down about two thirds of them when she finally reloaded her magazine and began to shoot at the other third. The rats were climping over the corpses of their peers, and almost ten feet away from the group now. Malice refused to let worry infect his aim, firing relentlessly. He was about to kill the final five rushing towards them, only to be beaten to the punch by Avril firing at them, hitting them each in the head and downing them. 

Despite the dripping in the sewers it seemed almost silent, compared to the noise of the shots from before. Kallie and Midnight stood watching the other two with fear evident on their faces. Malice waited until he was sure the rats were dead, before going over and kicking some of them, as light as he could to prove a point. “See, all fine now.” He said, before turning towards Avril. “You stole my kills.”

“I saved your ass.” She replied, holstering her gun. Malice froze in his tracks.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re welcome.” Avril smiled at him, and Malice was very tempted to empty the rest of his clip into her forehead. He was about to tell her this, when he heard Kallie’s voice ring out, echoing off the walls. 

“Save it for later. We’ve got company.”

The team looked to where she was pointing, where they saw the clouded eyes of several ghouls, groaning and rushing towards them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we'll be wrapping up the story shortly, two or so chapters left to go! thank you for reading, we really appreciate it <3


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter that contains some description of violence and has minor focus on bloody injury.

Malice responded without thought, his action as much reflex and muscle memory as conscious choice. His wired reflexes kicked up to full and before anyone else in the team could move, he had turned, analysed the situation and pulled the trigger, sending a hunched figure to the floor, their knee exploded outwards. Following the shot, a long, animalistic howl flooded the tunnel. Only after he had acted did Malice consciously understand what he had seen. There had been four figures pushing towards them across the tunnel, three hunched over, hands almost on the metallic floor and galloping towards them as quickly as their limbs could manage. The forth was holding back behind them slightly, standing more upright and Malice instinctively knew he had survived the disease coursing through his veins slightly better than the others, his brain still functioning at some level beyond the bestial urges that dominated most ghouls. His round had not just tumbled one ghoul agonisingly to the floor, but had also caused the other two feral specimens to stop in their tracks, the prey before them suddenly appearing as a threat rather than an easy lunch. The ghouls had paused just four feet from the group of runners, watching them wearily, their white eyes perceiving things on a level Malice couldn’t possibly comprehend.

“Take us to the priest.” Malice said, gun aimed clearly at the most human of the creatures, the empty eyes of the diseased man meeting his own red electronic gaze. The wounded creature on the floor continued to scream, the agony of the damage to his knee, the shattered patella and severed ligaments rendering even the pain of his disease a distance throb. One of his pack mates gathered closer to him, gently grasping his suffering friend’s forearm in a gesture of comfort while offering soft, sibilant hissing and clicking, an attempt at whatever passed for kindness amongst these wrecked creatures, The third had stopped in his tracks and while Malice was keeping his focus entirely on the more human of the pack along with the victim of his bullet, his peripheral vision told him that it had paused and was looking curiously towards Midnight and Avril to his left.

“No.” The most human of the ghouls seemed pained with the effort of trying to form words and Kallie could see his anger flaring on the astral. He was scared of the man who had injured his friend, but that fear was in danger of being overcome by his instinctive desire to fight and assert dominance. Still, Malice could see none of that, only the creature’s defiance of his command. Malice cocked his head, raised his hand and shot the second feral ghoul through the elbow, another glowing spurt of warm fluid coating the floor in his thermographic perception. The screaming from both ghouls was overwhelming and immediately the third bestial creature in front of Avril and Midnight overcame his fear and took a step forward, spitting a glob of thick, bloody saliva on to Midnight’s suit mask as it pushed closer. Malice couldn’t risk removing his gaze from the ghoul capable of communication in case it escaped back in to the maze of tunnels so he could only hope the other two would handle that scenario appropriately.

Less than a second later, a gunshot rang out and an explosion of hot gore flashed across Malice’s peripheral vision as the skull of the ghoul that had spat on Midnight burst like an overripe fruit dropped from a second floor balcony. “Ok, this is your second and final chance.” Malice said simply. “Take us to the priest or the next bullet is for you, and I promise you it won’t kill you quickly.”

The creature saw his fate was sealed now, the eventual outcome beyond doubt even in his disease riddled brain. It said nothing but nodded slowly, hands held away from its body, an echo of a half forgotten gesture of surrender. Malice nodded, “Right decision” He said and fired two more rounds, the screaming beside the creature instantly falling silent. “Lead on.”

As the ghoul started to walk away, looking back to ensure the team were following him perhaps, or attempting to work out if he could escape before they could shoot him, Malice noticed the shallow, rapid breathing coming through the comlink for the first time. It wasn’t hard to work out that Avril was hyperventilating. “Midnight, we can’t wait around now. Deal with her please.” He spoke flatly, no emotion in the comment, a simply statement of fact as he stepped after the leaving ghoul.

Midnight needed no further instruction. Avril’s gun was still raised, pointing at where she had shot the ghoul who had spat at her friend. Midnight reached her right hand up and put it on Avril’s shoulder, half supporting, half guiding her out of the tunnel a little distance behind Kallie and Malice. She understood Avril’s difficulty. As diseased and monstrous as the ghoul had become, the fact remained that the young elf had just killed a human being for the first time. Shooting rats was one thing, but ending the life of a fellow sentient being was a different step in anyone’s life. She knew Avril would probably have nightmares of darkness and teeth and blood and the smell of cordite for years to come and would need professional help to absorb what she had done, to repair yet another tear in her ruined psyche. If that was even possible now she mused, the damage may already be too great. Midnight knew people who had never overcome the implications of any one of the range of acts Avril had endured in the last day or two. Still, as much as she might have had empathy, now was not the time to offer counselling, they had a job to do. 

“I killed him.” Avril said in a weak voice as Midnight led her passed the remains of the three dead ghouls twitching on the ground. “He spat on you, so I shot him,” Avril continued. Her breathing was still too rapid for her own good and Midnight knew she was on the very edge of collapsing down in to a crying heap on the floor. 

“You had no choice. Calm down.” Midnight infused the last two words with her magical abilities, forcing a change in emotional state for Avril who instantly found her breathing returning to normal, the ability to panic magically removed from her. Midnight really didn’t want to do that to the elf, she had already had her will defied so often over the last two days that doing it once more was bound to have consequences down the line. Still, she also knew she had no choice. If Avril panicked and got split up from the others in the labyrinthian underground complex she would die of hunger before she found her way out, even if the rats and ghouls didn’t get to her first. Shutting down her natural emotional reaction like this would inevitably have negative psychological consequences later down the line, but that damage was the lesser of two evils as far as Midnight was concerned.

“He disrespected you.” Avril said, the artificial calmness allowing her to discuss the act in a detached, cold manner. Midnight couldn’t help but be reminded of Malice was she spoke of her kill in a mechanical, factual way, like she was discussing her choice of entrée at a restaurant, although she knew that was the result of her own magic and not anything inherently wrong in Avril’s mind. “He disrespected my friend, so I killed him. It is just what Shadowrunners do, I see that now. We are not good people, like you said.”

Midnight shook her head, their footsteps echoing metallically around the tunnel as they followed the ghoul, Malice in the lead. “No,” the elf said softly, contradicting her but out of kindness, “Firstly, you are not a Runner and don’t ever have to be one if you don’t want to be. Secondly, you killed him because he tried to infect me, to kill me. The ghouls can only see on the astral, so he didn’t know I was wearing a suit. He wasn’t spitting on me to disrespect me, he was trying to get his blood in my eyes or mouth. You tried to save my life by killing him.” Midnight knew there was no way Avril had known that had been the ghoul’s intention when she had pulled the trigger, the fear of the standoff making her act irrationally, but she hoped the idea would take hold and sooth her when she revisited this moment after they escaped the sewers and Midnight’s magic wore off.

Avril nodded, the logic making sense to her. She hadn’t killed out of fear or anger or a stupid sense of pride but rather out of necessity to protect her friend. She suddenly felt at home, relaxed almost, the nervous uncertainty lost as soon as Midnight had spoken to her. She liked the elf, trusted her, and so she guessed it made sense that her words had soothed her so completely. Still, for her to suddenly feel so relaxed, especially in light of where she was and what she had done was surprising to her. Perhaps she was getting used to the horror of the Shadows, perhaps it was something she was always going to eventually learn she was capable of. Either way, she felt she was learning something about herself that her college courses had failed to teach her. Drek, watching some of the horror trids she had seen in high school featuring Ghouls was a more terrifying experience than this reality. It was odd, she knew, but the presence of the three professional criminals and the weight of the pistol in her hand was reason enough for her to feel comfortable despite the threats that surrounded her.

Malice was glad when silence settled over the comlink and he could only hear footsteps from Midnight and Avril following along behind. Even the presence of Kallie right behind him was reassuring in a way and he allowed himself to switch his reflexes down to normal again, not needing the additional combat edge they gave him for a while. Sure, he had his back turned to a mage and that made him nervous as it always had, but he had learned to trust Kallie’s skills over the last day and a half so it was far less intense than in the past. Besides, she wanted this mage and the bounty he represented every bit as much as he did. Within a few moments, he found he wasn’t even looking back to check his safety, trusting Kallie to watch over him. The ghoul wasn’t running in front of him, but it did move quickly, easily gliding between the rusty gantries and filthy flows of the sewers, obviously completely at home in the uneven environment. Malice wasn’t struggling to keep up, but he did need to concentrate to stay agile in the suit and he knew the team would be feeling the same way as they followed along behind him. The gradually increasing noise of breathlessness through the comlink offered proof of that as they moved on, the team breathing hard to keep up with the effort required to move rapidly over the odd environment of the sewers.

Suddenly, the ghoul stopped dead in the middle of an empty tunnel, freezing and then dropping to all fours, head up and looking around rapidly, his behaviour a picture of high alert, like a cornered animal. Malice immediately paused and heard the team behind him do the same, all four looking around the dimly light space, scanning the shadows for signs of life. Was this an ambush? Had the ghoul lead them in to a trap, the creature’s intelligence slightly higher than his diseased state let on? Malice saw nothing however, not even a slight heat signature anywhere.

“Thermographic is clear.” He said to the team, his subvocal microphone ensuring the ghoul could not hear them. “Anything on the Astral?”

“Just us.” Kallie said, simply.

“What’s happening?” Avril asked, the low light level limiting even her very sensitive vision. “Why have we stopped?”

The ghoul turned around, able to hear Avril’s words, the lack of a subvocal microphone meaning her communication was not secure.

“Listen” He said. “You… No… hear?” Each word was accompanied by the usual hissing noise of air passing through his teeth as the ghoul shaped unfamiliar words.

Since the runners were inside the sealed environment of the suits, Malice wasn’t overly surprised that the ghoul had picked up whatever noise had him on high alert before they had. The creatures blindness also meant they relied on their hearing more than the team, so that would have probably given the ghoul the advantage even without the suit. Still, Malice saw the creature becoming more and more panicked, spitting and biting at the air like a rabid dog. The tunnel remained silent beyond the ghoul’s odd yips and moans as they tried to determine what sound had so alerted him. Kallie heard it first.

“Gunfire.” She said, “Ahead of us.”

A second later Malice heard it as well, the distinctive bark of automatic fire echoing back down the tunnels towards them and then the noise of animalistic screams. Whatever was happening ahead seemed to be more than a simple gang fight. Ghouls were clearly dying in significant numbers for one thing. The sound of fire was coming through in short, controlled bursts and while the runners could now pick up the odd shout of pain and death, no ringing battle cries or yells of ecstasy at the rush of fighting reached them, all signs that the fight ahead involved professionals, people who had learned to be calm during the chaos of a gunfight. That meant whoever was fighting ahead was dangerous and Kallie and Midnight came to the same conclusion at the same moment. The battle was ahead of them; in the exact direction the ghoul was leading them. The fight was either in or near the church and that could only mean one thing. The Orange Queen’s team had got to the target first, attacking from above ground. Malice found himself picking up the pace, running towards the noise and hoping that he could get to Martinez before the firing stopped. He heard the other runners picking up their pace to match him, the ghoul ignored as it cowered behind them.

A couple of dozen meters ahead of them, the sewer pipe opened out in to a much larger space, the exit of their current tunnel a good eight feet up the side of the wall. A ladder led down to the floor below but Malice knew time was a crucial factor. The gunfire was loud now, the battle just the other side of the larger space he had just entered. He couldn’t risk climbing down the ladder, his back turned to the direction of the fighting as he gradually made his way down. He shrugged and jumped, dropping the eight feet and breaking his fall with an elegant roll, doing no more damage than knocking the wind out of his lungs briefly as the impact of the concrete floor of the space rocked through him. Kallie’s voice came through his earpiece, asking if he was ok. She had obviously heard the impact through the system and there seemed to be genuine concern in her enquiry.

“I’m fine. You got a pretty big drop ahead of …” but he never finished the sentence, his eyes spotting Martinez running in to the space from the opposite side flanked by two panicked ghouls. Their rapid movement and wide eyes made it clear they were fleeing the gunfight behind them. The old priest spotted Malice and immediately mouthed a brief prayer for divine judgement on the non-believer as he punched out at the ghoul on his right. At first, Malice assumed the gesture was to bring the ghouls attention to the new threat in front of him but he realised the error of his assumption as the hand drew back and a flow of crimson followed it. The priest hadn’t punched the ghoul, but had used a punch dagger to draw blood, powering his magic.

Before Malice could even act, the world exploded in pain, the Priest’s prayer manifesting in a bolt of pure magical power that flooded through Malice’s body, ripping through his skin and causing his environment suit to bubble and burst, the plastic melting under the impact of so much mana. Malice’s scream filled the space and he collapsed first to his knees and then his back, blood bubbling up out of his lungs as the bolt split delicate capillaries and ruptured paper thin cell walls. His vision went black and he dropped his weapon, consciousness slipping away as blood poured slowly over his lips. The priest pushed on in to the room, ignoring the badly wounded runner, one ghoul bodyguard remaining. Kallie stepped in to the mouth of tunnel, able to see Malice’s ruined form twitching and choking on the concrete eight feet below. She gritted her teeth and channelled mana, knowing she had to get her spell off before the priest could draw on the blood of the second ghoul to cast again. She worked the threads carefully to call forth a thick barrier of earth between the mage and his ghoul, cutting off Martinez from the blood he needed to fuel his prayers. The concrete floor of the space rose upwards, an eight foot tall barrier of earth and rock forming across the space, separating Malice and the ghoul on the far side near the door that the priest had come in through and trapping the priest near the ladder that led to Kallie’s elevated position.

“You heathen!” The priest called back, “You’ll pay for this! Lord, I ask that you strike down this witch in the purifying embrace of fire. ” He grasped his crucifix so hard that blood flowed from his palm as he offered up his prayer and Kallie saw the pattern forming in the astral air before her. She focused all her energy on undoing the pattern of mana flooding towards her as quickly as it formed, working at the speed of thought. She fought to ignore the sweat forming on her brow inside the plastic hood as she removed the most crucial threads in the elemental manipulation, the flames flickering in to reality just briefly, doing no more than flash burning the hair from her outstretched right arm as she countered his magical work.

Kallie heard Avril arrive on the platform beside her then and stepped aside so she could draw a bead on the priest below, her pistol kicking twice but missing, the bullets impacting on the earthen wall Kallie had formed behind him. Kallie allowed herself to reach over to the astral plane and call on the awaiting elemental, determined to end the threat of the mage once and for all. As she commanded, black stone outcroppings formed inside the earthen wall and it collapsed down over Martinez, tonnes of rock engulfing him, trapping him beneath a pile of stone. The wall collapsed yet his urgent prayer as it had fallen powered by his own blood had prevented the weight of rock crushing him. The priests urgent cry for help set the ghoul instantly rushing forward, clawing at the living stone and earth to try to free his master from beneath. It should have been a pointless gesture, the elemental immune to the mundane actions of hands and claws, but the ghoul was duel natured and Kallie could sense her spirit weakening. Its grip on the mage who was still struggling for freedom with all the strength left in his weakened body was failing thanks to the ghouls help. Kallie took a deep breath and started to work magic once again, channelling a wave of mana in to the ghoul’s astral form, tearing it apart with an overload of astral energy. Beside her, Avril took aim again and Midnight, bringing up the rear of the group, athletically dropped over the edge of the balcony and hooked her heels around the sides of the ladder. She gracefully slid down and hit the floor with an easy hop, joining the fray. No sooner was she on the ground than her gun was raised to cover the pile of earth beneath which Martinez was trapped. Unseen, the priest forced the metal of the crucifix deep in to his palm, the blood allowing him to drive the elemental back towards the astral plane, the earth above him slowly shifting as gravity started to take hold, the whole pile on the verge of becoming inert without direction from the spirit.

Kallie was just about to complete her spell, the mana more than enough to kill the ghoul when she felt a heavy impact from behind. The other ghoul who had acted as their guard sprang in to action, tackling the mage and sending her falling headlong over the edge, his weight about to smash her body on the unforgiving concrete eight feet below. Kallie reacted instantly, dropping her intended spell and calling on the elemental to release the mage, commanding it instead to manifest beneath her. The shift in the pile of earth and rock reduced the distance she had to fall by a good five feet. She hit, back first, on to the shoulder of the basalt construct and felt something inside her chest break as the ghoul landed on top of her. His weight overbalanced them both and they fell from the top of the elemental the last few feet to the ground, Kallie landing on top of him this time, pinning him beneath her as she struggled to draw breath through what she knew were broken ribs. The elemental staggered and, with no further instruction, stood still watching it’s wounded summoner struggle for breath. 

A gunshot rang out from the tunnel mouth above the fight and the ghoul working frantically to free Martinez fell to the ground, blood cascading out of a ragged wound below its shoulder, Avril’s voice echoed over the coms as she celebrated her hit. The ghoul slumped down, life flowing away from it rapidly as the sucking chest injury took hold. Midnight walked over and fired a single round in to the skull of the ghoul pinned beneath her wounded wife and then, the room still, half carried Kallie away from the corpse beneath her as silence filled the space. Midnight took a moment to assess the situation and realised all was not safe quite yet. She walked over to the pile of rocks, restraints removed from her belt ready for use. Even in her oxygen depleted state, Kallie spotted the movement in the puddle of blood from the dying ghoul behind Midnight and fought to speak. She needed to warn her wife that the mage was still conscious beneath the earth, protected from suffocation by his own magical abilities and was in the process of summoning a spirit using the ghoul’s lifeblood as fuel. Yet the broken ribs did not allow her to draw enough air in to her lungs to do say even a word and the slightest attempt to do so brought tears to her eyes as agony shot through her body like liquid flame.

As Avril walked over to the unconscious remains of Malice, Kallie noticed the blood from the dying ghoul was rapidly starting to solidify, a crimson winged form slowly raising behind her wife. Again, Kallie bit down her agony and focused on undoing the work of Martinez’ summoning. So much mana was being channelled by the priest that she knew preventing the summoning would be almost impossible if she was healthy. The raw magical power of a creature’s life blood was simply more potent than any ability she had or even could imagined possessing. Still, she knew that the creature would strike her wife down if she allowed it to form. She had to do something and there was only really one option open to her. Resigned to her fate, she let out what little breath she had forced in to her ruined chest and stepped out of her body. Fortifying her will, she positioned her aura between the mage and the slowly forming spirit on the astral plane, still working to undo his magic as he worked it. The power he was channelling glowed like a furnace, white and pure as it washed over her astral form and she knew it was damaging her badly, the pain beyond words. Still, she held her ground, stood in the middle of the white river of suffering and refused to allow the spirit to become complete. On the ground a few feet away, blood started to pour out of her nose and eyes, the force more than she could handle. She knew this path she had chosen risked permanently burning out her power, damaging her link to the astral world forever but she had no real choice. She had to prevent this spirit coming to be. She would win the battle of wills with Martinez no matter the cost to her and so banish the bloody angel before it could form in the physical realm and kill her wife. 

Midnight finally found her way through the pile of rocks to the body of Martinez and was shocked to see his eyes open, blood pouring from his ruined right hand, a metal crucifix impaled completely through his flesh. Despite the bloody wound, there was no doubt he was conscious. His open eyes glared with hate yet did not focus on her own face, did not even seem to see her although she was right next to him. Only then did she realise what was happening, that he was fighting a battle of wills elsewhere. She didn’t hesitate and brought the butt of her pistol down hard upon the old man’s skull. She held nothing back, striking as hard as she could, knowing she risked killing him with so strong a blow. Still, the risk was worth it, she had to knock him out and prevent whatever magical effect he was working to progress. The smack of metal on bone echoed and the priest collapsed down, unconscious. Midnight looked over to where her wife was propped against the wall to find her unconscious, her face now a sticky crimson mask of gore. Checking on the astral, Midnight could see that Kallie was alive, but hurt bad, her astral form damaged worse than she had ever seen it.

Midnight was passed taking chances now, pulling Martinez’s unconscious body out of the pile of earth and fitting first the handcuffs and then the mage mask to his bleeding, unconscious form, the operation taking a few moments longer than normal as her hands felt clumsy through the environmental suit and numb with the concern for Kallie. She felt anger rising in her gut at what this mage had done, but knew her wife had risked all of this for the reward, even a half share of a million nuyen between them enough to peacefully retire together. With that sole thought in mind, she forced herself to restrain rather than kill the man. A few moments later, Avril spoke through the coms link and drew Midnights attention away from the priest in front of her. “I think Malice is hurt bad,” She said, “He’s not conscious and seems to have coughed up a lot of blood. Can Kallie help him?” 

Midnight looked over to her unconscious wife, her astral form shredded by the conflict and realised how vulnerable the team were now. Kallie couldn’t heal herself, let alone Malice and so neither wouldn’t be able to help any further. It was down to Avril and herself to get the body to the Draco-foundation and get paid. She replied as emotionlessly as she could manage, determination growing in her heart, replacing the hurt and concern. “No, she’s hurt too, it’s down to us now.” She looked over at the young elf as she spoke, the last two conscious members of the group stood across the room from each other, separated only by a small pile of earth, the last remains of Kallie’s barrier and a now slowly crumbling statue of basalt; the elemental fading from reality now the mage who had called it was unconscious, free to return to its home plane. 

“Do we have him? Is he alive?” Avril asked, looking back at the bound mage, ignoring the corpses and suffering that filled the room around them. 

Midnight never got the chance to answer, a familiar voice interrupting from the entrance to the room. The other runner team looked over the carnage before them and spotted the mage restrained and masked next to Midnight. “He’s alive and I guess you think you have him. That may even be true, but your problem is that we seem to have you.”

Midnight turned to face the second team outnumbered four to one. Still, she raised the pistol in her hand, defiance burning in her eyes. “Avril, get behind me.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings for violence and descriptions of wounds

Midnight hadn’t been able to feel nervous for a long time now, but as Avril stepped behind her, the odds of their situation settled like a lead weight in her stomach. Neither of them were completely useless, but the group's two strongest players were out of the game, which didn’t do anything in their favour. Kerra held her pistol by her side, as calm as anything, the other two members of her team providing the threat as they pointed their own firearms back at Midnight and Avril.

“You can’t have him.” Midnight said, and Kerra tilted her head at her, as though confused.

“You’re not exactly in a position to bargain here. Or stop us. Even if you pull the trigger you can’t take all of us out before we take you both down. It would be best if you let us have him and we can be on our way, nobody needs to get hurt more than they already are.”

_ Oh I don’t think so,  _ Midnight thought, her grip tightening on her gun. Not after everything it had taken for them to get this far. Not after the state her wife was currently in. Even if Kerra was right that there was no way she’d be able to take them all out and survive herself, especially since the group in front of her were all mages, she refused to simply lay down and let them snatch up the prize.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand, you don’t have the stake in this that we do, why do you want him so bad? It can’t just be for the money, I know you’re a skilled team, you could easily take on another job offering the same amount.”

The human, Lucas, spoke up, his voice deep and echoing. “He is an abomination. He is a plague to everything we stand for. We must take him to our Queen so he may be eradicated.” Midnight very nearly rolled her eyes, having thought that they’d left the dramatics behind since Martinez was finally unconscious and bound, but apparently today wasn’t her lucky day. 

“You didn’t even know about him until we found him, you were trying to keep tabs on our boss. This isn’t some job you’re being paid for, you’ve just decided to do this because you feel like you should, and for what? You’re willing to kill us over a priest that you have no association with, nor explicit orders to take?”

“This is more important than any of your lives. There is a bigger game at hand here that even we do not understand, but we know what must be done.” Kerra took a step towards the group, and Midnight could hear Avril’s breath hitch behind her in a panic. “Let us take him, or we will not hesitate to kill you and leave your bodies to be torn apart by the ravenous ghouls that wander down here.”

Midnight’s aim did not falter, her gun following Kerra as she took a step towards where Kallie was propped up. If she so much as laid a finger on her, Midnight was going to pull the trigger. 

“She’s rather damaged, isn’t she? Her astral form is quite fractured, it wouldn’t take a lot to rip it apart completely. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

Before Midnight could respond, Avril peaked out from behind her, her own pistol trained on the group. “Leave her alone.” She said, as threateningly as she could manage, which was far from Malice’s level of intimidation, but the attempt was there. Unfortunately it had little effect on the other group, Kerra chuckling at her. “You think you’re so powerful now you have a gun in your hands, but you can’t touch us. You won’t. You might have been able to pull the trigger on some poor ghoul, but can you look me in the eye and kill me? Someone just like you? Go on, shoot me.” She waited, standing perfectly still and giving Avril the perfect shot. The elf kept the gun trained on her for a few seconds, finger on the trigger, trying to convince herself she could do it. But ultimately she lowered the weapon and looked away, ashamed. Kerra smirked.

“You are a weak child and nothing more.”

The direness of the situation was becoming increasingly evident, and Midnight tried to think of any way out of this. Even if after everything she decided to give up and let the team take Martinez, that still wouldn’t leave them in the best scenario. They couldn’t just wait around for Kallie and Malice to wake up, there were more likely to be found by another pack of ghouls before then. There was a chance neither of them would wake up at all. And between her and Avril, they didn’t have the strength to carry the other two back, not without the risk of aggravating their injuries, or in Kallie’s case ripping her suit and making her susceptible to infection. Midnight was careful not to let any obvious emotion pass over her face, but all she could think of was the drive they’d taken to Silver’s bar only a week ago, when they’d first heard about this job. It had been her that had convinced Kallie to take it, saying that the money would mean they could do something nice afterwards, and have a delayed New Year celebration. Kallie had been hesitant at first, untrusting of a job that looked so simple paying so much, but even she had to admit it would be nice to have some funds for a celebration once they were done. There had been discussions between them lately about how much they’d want saved away for if they retired. If Midnight hadn’t pushed for them to take this job then they wouldn’t have ended up down here, her wife wouldn’t be propped up against a wall on the brink of death. Perhaps this was a long time coming, something they deserved after the kind of life they’d decided to lead. So fine then, if she wasn’t going to get out of this alive, then Midnight wasn’t going down without a fight. And if she somehow managed to shoot her way through this and survive, then they’d need the money for the medical supplies. If Kallie woke up, and got fixed up, then perhaps they could move towns, find something else to do with their lives. Start over again.

She kept her finger firm on the trigger as Kerra tutted at Malice’s body, nose upturning at the smell of burnt plastic coming from his destroyed suit. “A pity, all that strength and nothing to show for it. What a shame.” 

She turned to look at Midnight then, waiting to see if she was ready to give up and surrender. But Midnight’s grip on her weapon was unrelenting, she stood feet apart and ready for the drek to hit the fan. Kerra sighed. It was a shame to have to kill them all, but needs must, and if they weren’t willing to part with this priest, then she would not hesitate to rip him from them. “So that is how it’s going to be,” she said, as Harpa and Lucas stepped forward with their guns at the ready.

Midnight took a deep breath, letting herself feel nothing but calm as she waited for her opportunity. Take out the elf, since he was already astrally perceiving and most likely the biggest magical threat, then try go for Lucas and then Kerra, and hope she could take at least one of them down.

A shot rang out in the silence. Midnight stopped breathing, trying to work out who’d shot her. She looked over herself, but couldn’t see any wounds, and when she realised she wasn’t in any pain she looked at the group in front of her, but they all looked equally as surprised. Malice and Kallie were both in her frame of vision and neither of them were currently sporting anymore wounds, so she wasn’t sure who else it could be. But then a horrible feeling sank in the pit of her stomach as she turned to look to her right, where Martinez had been left restrained. The mage mask was still on, but there was a stream of blood pooling out from it and spreading across the concrete. A clear bullet wound was visible in the back of the mask, a messy portrait of brain matter. The man was dead. And behind him, gun still trained on him stood Avril, her hand steadier than it had ever been.

“No one is having him.” She said, firm and quiet. She refused to look away from the body. Midnight lowered her weapon arm in complete shock, unable to believe what she was witnessing. 

“What have you done?” Midnight whispered, as the other group took a step back, suddenly seeming to realise they’d made a big mistake in their assessment of her capability. 

“He was not yours to take!” Shouted Kerra, the most emotion she’d shown since they’d met her, in a mix of both shock and anger. Avril finally turned her gaze away from the body and looked at the group with resolution in her eyes. “He was. And now he’s been dealt with.” She replied, her voice monotone. Midnight didn’t dare move from where she was stood, half waiting for the other group to kick off, but she spoke quietly: “He was defenseless, he couldn’t have done anything to anyone. We had him. We had him and you…”

“I’m sorry,” she replied, “I had to.”

“You’ll regret this.” Kerra hissed, raising her gun to fire it. Reflexes kicking in, Midnight took a shot back at her before she could get hers off, creating a bloody mess that spurted from Kerra’s hand as the bullet lodged into her palm, causing her to cry out and drop her gun. Her bodyguards went to fire their own weapons but before they could fire they suddenly stood perfectly still, as though in a trance. Avril stood next to her, weapon readied again, waiting for them to fire, but the two men stared unblinking ahead, before very slowly lowering their weapons. The two women looked to each other in confusion before they heard the sound of footsteps. From behind the two men Damon stepped out into the room in a perfectly immaculate pinstriped suit, an outlier amongst the rest of the room.

“Well,” he said, looking around at the scene in front of him, “what do we have here?”

His purple eyes glanced around between the injured team members, until they reached the body of Martinez on the floor. He looked over to Avril, who stared right back at him and a smile crept onto his face. He walked over to her, suede shoes stepping into the puddle of blood and leaving no stain, nor trace he’d walked through it. His hand reached up to cup her face and she neither leant into it, nor flinched away, simply awaited his reaction. “Well done,” he said, “I knew you could do it.”

Kerra, cradling her bloody hand, looked between the two with shock evident on her face. “You wanted her to kill him?!” She asked, and the dragon raised a curious eyebrow.

“You were all there when I suggested she tag along, I don’t see why you’re so surprised. I couldn’t be sure that things would end up this way, but I’m certainly pleased they have.” He said, stroking Avril’s cheek before stepping away. As he properly looked at the two groups his smile dropped and he frowned a little, assessing all their injuries. “I see my suggestion of ‘light competition’ fell on deaf ears. How disappointing.”

“We didn’t hurt them.” Lucas spoke up, as Damon leaned over to take a closer look at Malice. “Of course not,” Damon said, “you just planned to swoop in and deliver the final blows, correct? Easy pickings. Not exactly what I’d expect from people representing Hestaby, I imagine she wouldn’t be terribly impressed to hear about all of this.”

The team at least had the audacity to look a little sheepish. “She would have cared more about having a blood mage in her hands.”

“Maybe so.” Damon replied, turning away from Malice. “But whilst this was a convenient opportunity, there’s other blood mages out there. This one wasn’t worth killing associates of mine over, not since they’re evidently capable of doing that themselves. Though your self-preservation might be equally as horrible, given the amount of deadly pathogens down here and your complete lack of preparation for them.”

Kerra winced as she tightened the fist that had been shot, blood dripping onto the stone floor. “Our queen can heal us…” She gritted out, conviction clear in her voice.

“She is certainly capable of doing so,” Damon agreed, “provided that she’s not angry with you. Which she might be if I mention that you deliberately tried to kill my people. Though that depends on whether I give her this information, and at present I haven’t decided yet.”

Hestaby’s group looked between each other nervously. There wasn’t a shred of guilt on their faces for what they’d done, only that they’d been caught doing it. Midnight felt no pity for any of them. Once again the situation had been taken out of her hands, since Damon was clearly in charge again, though it seems he had been from the beginning, despite every single development in this run. But she was out of options for what to do now, the mage was a bust and all that she cared about left in the world was sat hunched up against a wall a few feet away from her, body and mind wrecked beyond belief.  _ Fine then,  _ Midnight thought. If there was nothing else to salvage from this, then she’d put her pride to one side for a moment for the sake of Kallie. She wasn’t going to lose her after all this.

“Please heal her.” Midnight said to Damon, crouching down beside her wife. Damon turned to the pair of them, as though he’d forgotten they were there too. “Why should I? You knew the risks going into this, I didn’t promise you any payout. You are responsible for what’s happened down here.” 

Midnight kept her features in check, not allowing even the slightest bit of irritation or annoyance to come through. To an extent he was right, they’d gone into this of their own accord and whilst they’d done what they’d could to prevent it, accidents happened on runs. But it wasn’t as though the dragon was completely innocent in all this, he’d evidently sent them on this wild chase knowing the dangers, and knowing they’d end up attacking each other. The least he could do was not let them die down here. There wasn’t much she could offer such a creature, but Midnight was resolute that she’d find a way to heal Kallie. Even if it would land them in a dragon’s pocket. If she woke up, Kallie would be so incredibly pissed off about what Midnight was about to offer, but at that point in time, the adept didn’t see that she had much of a choice.

“We’ll owe you. Me and her, whatever you need from us you can have it. Please just… Please heal her.”

It was a terrible offer, a dangerous one if he accepted it, but that was the offer she’d laid out. She only hoped that Kallie could forgive her, if that’s how they ended up. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Avril staring blankly at the wall, as though she was in another world entirely. Maybe she’d finally realised that she’d murdered someone. Maybe she’d just stopped caring. Or maybe the dragon had put some weird spell on her. Midnight couldn’t tell. 

Damon seemed to blink slowly and then gave her a pitiful look. “You can see how fractured she is, can’t you? Astrally speaking.”

Midnight nodded.

“Then you realise that if she wakes, she won’t necessarily be the person she used to be. She may never go back to who she was.”

“I know,” Midnight said, “but I’d rather have some of her back than none of her.”

Damon said nothing for a moment, thinking it over. Midnight held his gaze, not willing to back down from her request. Eventually he smiled again, the expression sending a chill down Midnight’s spine.

“I think there’s an agreement that can be made here. No, I will not heal her. However, these three,” he gestured to Hestaby’s team, “will take you to a street doc, who I’m sure can fix her up adequately. In return, I shan’t mention to Hestaby what you’ve done down here.” He aimed the last part of his sentence to the other group, who looked for a moment as though they were about to argue, but instead Harpa nodded in agreement, knowing it was the best offer they’d all get.

“Excellent.” Damon grinned, his attention then shifting to Avril, who was still standing silent, unmoving. Her stillness broke when he stood in front of her again, lifting her head up ever so slightly. “My offer still stands you know,” Damon started, resting a hand on her shoulder, “if you want to forget all of this, I can make that happen. You just need to say the word. But it’s the final time I’ll offer it.”

Avril didn’t need to take in the scene around her to know what her choice would be. In some ways it felt as though she wasn’t even in the room with them, but somewhere else, as if she was hovering above them and watching everything unfold. The opportunity to forget all of this, to forget what had happened to her, the trauma she’d been through, and what she’d done with her own hands was a kindness. She could see that. And she could see it for the rarity it was. How many other people had the chance to let the pain be swept away, like a tide washing away the gritty imprints left in the sand. It would make her life so much easier, allow her to return to her family, her friends, as though nothing had happened. She could be happy. Ignorantly happy.

Instead, she shook her head, and felt Damon squeeze her shoulder.

“Very well.” He said, sounding pleased, as though she’d made the right choice. Maybe she had, maybe he had bigger plans than all of this. “There’s no need for you to linger here in this mess. You’ve done well Avril. Go right when you come out of this room and continue down the tunnel, you’ll find a ladder that leads to the surface. It’s time you finally went home.”

Avril nodded, and Damon stepped aside to let her through. As she walked past him, she saw Midnight gently holding Kallie’s hand, stroking her thumb over the back of it. When she’d apologised for killing Martinez, the apology hadn’t been for the fact that she’d taken his life, it had been for what it had cost them. The pair of them had been truly kind to her in all this, rescuing her and helping her get this far, doing their best to find out the truth for her. They’d been kind even though it had led them to ruin, and Avril knew how much they needed that payout. For denying them that, she was truly sorry. Next to them Malice’s body, littered with injury still, lay on the floor and it struck her that no one had made any kind of bargain for him.

“What about Malice?” She said, pointing to him. Midnight also looked over, aware that she’d only made her plea for Kallie.

“Oh, I’m afraid he’s dead,” Damon said casually, “has been since before I arrived.”

A silence fell among them. Hestaby’s team didn’t pay him any attention, his body was of no consequence to them. Midnight looked at him for a second, but had to avert her eyes, no doubt feeling some semblance of guilt for neglecting him and not realising just how injured he was. After everything they’d been through he’d just died on the floor in front of them, and none of them had noticed. All his skill, determination, it was all gone, in an unnoticed final moment. They wouldn’t be able to take him out of there, they’d have to leave him for the ghouls. Maybe it would be Razor that found him. Would he keep him? Or would he have no choice but to eat him? Avril distantly realised that such a thought should have made her nauseous, but instead she felt nothing at all. She turned her head and spared one last glance at Damon, who was smiling sweetly at her.

“Perhaps we shall see each other again. Take good care Avril.” He waved, and she nodded briefly at him, before turning back around and walking away from the blood, and bodies and crumbling rock. The sewer tunnel she ventured down was barely lit, but she continued forward regardless, stepping over the corpses of ghouls that Hestaby’s team had left behind. There was a rushing in her ears that seemed to overpower any other noise around her, giving her something to focus on as she continued forward until she reached the ladder that Damon had described. She only realised she was still holding her gun when she went to climb it, taking a moment to shove it in the holster Midnight had given her back at the apartment. It was difficult, heaving herself up in the suit, but she refused to stop, slowly climbing all the way up until she was right underneath a sewer grate, left ajar by Damon no doubt. It was heavy, and it made a loud metallic clunking sound as she pushed it to one side, allowing herself to climb up and out. 

Upon finally reaching the surface, she pulled off the helmet to the hazmat gear along with the oxygen mask, letting the fresh Seattle air flow deep into her lungs, replacing the stifling, chemical air she’d been inhaling previously. Once satisfied that the air around her wasn’t about to run out, she began the task of shedding the hazmat suit, its bulky frame making it difficult to remove without help. Regardless, she managed it, and left it in a pile by the drain entrance. The morning sun was just starting to rise across the horizon, casting the sky in front of her in soft oranges and pinks, slowly waking the morning inhabitants of the city. Looking around she figured she was still in the barrens, just outside of Martinez’s territory. The streets were surprisingly empty, the only cars in sight being burnt out wrecks, and there was no one wandering about other than herself. A few strands of hair that had come loose were stuck to her forehead with sweat, and she wiped it away, taking a moment to undo her hair and letting it fall down onto her shoulders. She stared at the holstered gun on the hazmat suit for a second, before removing it, and attaching it to her own belt. When she looked up, she thought for a second she saw a strange looking elf with diamond eyes lurking between two buildings down the street, but when she blinked he was gone, only the sound of the wind keeping her company.

She looked once more towards the sunrise, and began to walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's the end of this story! apologies for the delay in getting the final chapter out
> 
> thank you so much for reading, we really hope you've enjoyed it!


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